The credibility of information provided by security cluster ministers to parliament and the public over the unrest that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has been called into question after contradictory messages from the ministers.
On Wednesday, security cluster portfolio committees in parliament said they would push for an inquiry into the possible lapses by the government in dealing with the crisis that resulted in businesses being looted and economies of the two provinces brought to a halt.
The committees' call came after apparent rifts among cabinet colleagues in the security cluster played out in the open, exposing deep divisions, with conflicting messages and the blame game being played.
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Chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, vowed that security cluster ministers would be called to account.
“We will not leave the matter here. I think it is important that we speak with one voice and that is the role of parliament. We will certainly be fulfilling our obligations and we are responsible as parliament to the constitution and the oversight of the executive. The ministers will be called to account,” she said.
Joemat-Pettersson and other members of the committee were conducting an oversight visit to Soweto Wednesday to assess the effectiveness of the police in quelling the violence, looting and destruction of property in affected areas, including shopping malls.
On Tuesday, police minister Bheki Cele contradicted state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo and denied the claim she made last week during a media briefing that police received intelligence information on the violent incidents before they took place.
Cele told the portfolio committee on police in Chatsworth in Durban that he had received no intelligence information from the state Security Agency, after he was asked by MPs why he had not acted on it to avoid what President Cyril Ramaphosa called an attempted insurrection.
Dlodlo has, however, insisted that the intelligence package on the riots was given to police structures and not individuals. This was not the first time such contradictions emerged from the government.
Defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula also contradicted Ramaphosa’s characterisation of the violent incidents as an attempted insurrection. She said there was no evidence of such when addressing the joint standing committee on defence on Sunday.
Mapisa-Nqakula backtracked on Monday after acting minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni distanced the government from her says. Mapisa-Nqakula insisted that she did not mean to contradict Ramaphosa or undermine his authority.
ACDP leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe said the contradictory information given by ministers undermined the confidence of parliament and the public in the credibility of the information put forward by the government.
“We don’t know who is telling the truth. The committee is worried as not one of them is satisfied or happy with the information provided so far. We are concerned because we do not know which information is credible now,” Meshoe said.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the blame game was expected as political divisions within the security cluster were now compounded by security lapses.
“This was a major lapse, and remember this is a cluster that has been so politicised, even in the hiring of top cops and the information that came out about the politicisation of intelligence work at the SSA before the Zondo commission. We should expect these problems there,” he said.
Mathekga said the incoherence of visible political misalignment had undermined the credibility of the government competence to deal with the crisis.
Amnesty International SA executive director Shenilla Mohamed said the contradictions by the different ministers showed “a government in chaos, unable to co-ordinate security to protect the people”.
National Assembly house chairperson Cedric Frolick said an inquiry was critical to get to the bottom of the saga and identify where the lapses were amid the contradictory reports.
He said the oversight report of the police committee would be combined with those of the joint standing committees on intelligence and defence and submitted to parliament.
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