Human rights activist, violence monitor and academic Mary de Haas angered members of parliament’s ad hoc committee on Tuesday when she refused to name her sources, saying she would rather stop testifying.
Committee members took exception to De Haas’s facial expressions, including rolling her eyes and talking over them.
De Haas was appearing before the committee to give information on the disbandment of the political killings task team.
She said people she had spoken to about the team’s investigations reported emotional and physical abuse.
“I have been told by virtually everyone I’ve interacted with that they [the task team] just come in and search without a warrant.”
She said the team was also accused of taking people’s phones without a court order.
“This was a common allegation. This is illegal,” she said, adding that community members reported harassment from the team.
De Haas told MPs that the information she had been given by sources still needed to be tested by investigators at the Madlanga commission, which is probing the same allegations.
When she was asked if she could reveal the names in-camera, De Haas refused, saying the people concerned would appear before the Madlanga commission.
She said the commission had the luxury of forensic investigators, which the ad hoc committee did not have.
De Haas said she could not name police officers and those who have been investigated by the task team because they would be persecuted and even killed.
“It is one of the reasons why I am outraged that we should have a team that’s focused on a few dozen people that may or may not have been killed for political reasons.”
She said she was also surveilled, had to debug her phone and that her calls were being diverted.
“I have to watch every move I make because I have made a lot of enemies,” she said.
“I see dreadful stuff all the time, not just for politicians. I see people dying and the police doing nothing, and yet we are spending this money on this team. I think it’s outrageous, quite frankly, when ordinary people can’t get justice; they want closure, [but] they don’t get it. I am speaking here for poor people; you don’t even hear about them being killed.
“They are killed all the time in rural areas; they are trying to defend their land, for example. No one’s paying attention and doing anything special for them. Why are we doing something special for politicians?
MK party MP Vusi Shongwe said nameless information could not assist them in any way and that De Haas should give them names.
ANC MP Xola Nqola agreed, saying De Haas’s evidence was largely reliant on secondary or third-party sources.
“She should share names,” he said, adding that it was worrying that De Haas was refusing to reveal her sources.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James said the proceedings were not a storytelling session nor a history lesson.
“Our communities are under siege. Our children are being fed drugs. We are here to get to the truth. Ethics left this room and this country a long time ago. It’s too late for that now.
“We need names,” James said. “Anyone who comes here today must understand that. We don’t know you. Earlier, you said, ‘My people trust me.’ I don’t know you — I don’t trust anyone. So please, can we have names here today?”
EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys, who told De Haas to stop rolling her eyes while she spoke to her, said the only reason De Haas was there was because suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu mentioned her.
De Haas was asked not to make “unnecessary gestures” while committee members addressed her.
MK party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo described De Haas as arrogant, saying she was undermining the work of the committee.
Sowetan
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