MEMBERS of Parliament expressed their unhappiness at the postponement of their oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal to meet with King Misuzulu, the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) and other stakeholders after being advised against doing so by the parliamentary presiding officers.
The visit was initially planned for late last year in order to attend to developments that were taking place within the ITB, but matters escalated when the King dissolved the board, fired the CEO, and CFO and appointed lawyers to run the affairs of the ITB.
In a statement, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso stated that the King does not have the power to dissolve the board as the authority to do so resided with the minister.
Briefing the Parliament’s land and reform portfolio committee on Wednesday, chairperson Albert Mncwango said they had met with Nyhontso and had to obtain permission from House Chairperson Cedric Frolick for the visit.
“I received a call from the House chair that he had consulted with the Speaker and agreed that the timing was not good.
“They felt that we needed to wait until the Minister is back and the President (Cyril Ramaphosa, who was at Davos) is back,” Mcwango said.
He added that the presiding officers also felt that Ramaphosa needed to be informed of their going to meet the King “because there are sensitivities that they feel needed to be taken care of”.
“They said we need to postpone the oversight visit to a date after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) because they felt, maybe, it would give time to other protocol arrangements to be made,” he told the MPs.
DA MP Bonginkosi Madikizela said it was unfortunate that Frolick and the Speaker decided at the eleventh hour, because the situation around ITB and what transpired since last year, necessitated the committee to embark on the oversight visit.
“We wanted to embark on a fact-finding mission to understand the reasons behind the action of the King so that we are better informed. We have a role to play in assisting to resolve the challenges at Ingonyama Trust,” Madikizela said.
ANC Mzoleleli Mrara said it was unfortunate that many things were happening very fast.
“It will paint a negative picture about the role of the portfolio committee for failing to intervene on time in a matter of this nature,” Mrara said about the postponement.
EFF MP Sam Matiase said the parliamentary presiding officers should not frustrate the work of the committee due to a lack of appreciation of the nature of the issues before the committee, and the urgency with which they ought to be attended to.
He stated that the committee could not be subordinated to the programme of the executive.
“It is wrong and it has to be condemned. We have been deprived of that opportunity of seeing and meeting His Majesty on 30 January,” he said.
MK Party MP Andile Mngxitama said it was concerning they were unable to interface with Isilo and other role players.
Mngxitama said the committee should take proactive steps by first understanding the source of the problem within ITB.
“It is clear there is tension in terms of the law that says the land belongs to the King, but he has no administrative or executive powers to appoint his board. That is the source of the tension. That is the crux of the matter.
“I can imagine as a king I could be highly offended that the land that belongs to my people, I have no power to appoint administrators of that land. It is an insult, in fact, that legislation has been constructed in that manner renders him a mere induna,” Mngxitama said.
After some discussion by the committee on possible dates, it was agreed that the oversight visit would be undertaken in the last week of February.