The Democratic Alliance (DA) has appealed the Presidency’s decision to refuse access to the Simelane report submitted to the President following allegations of her alleged involvement in the VBS looting scandal.
After the DA submitted a request for access to information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), the Presidency rejected our request outright. We have now appealed this decision at the Presidency, under the provisions of the same Act.
In his State of the Nation Address this past Thursday, the President enthusiastically paid lip service, as usual, to tackling corruption. His sweeping statements about how the state will ensure a nation free from corruption ring hollow in the face of mounting allegations against members of his Cabinet, most recently Ministers Simelane and Ntshavheni. These statements are nothing more than a tick-box inclusion, wholly detached from reality.
In the real world, where the rest of South Africa lives, the fact of the matter is that the President himself has decided to keep a Minister in his Cabinet who has been linked to the VBS looting scandal, shuffling Minister Simelane’s portfolio in the vain hope that accountability has a short memory. All he did was move her sideways from the Ministry of Justice to Human Settlements – a portfolio with a more than R30 billion budget, and a crucial constitutional mandate. The Presidency remains adamant that the public does not deserve to see the Simelane report. He has failed to take the public into his confidence.
The Presidency, in denying the request for information relied on incorrect reasons and ultimately failed to consider the public interest, which is an overriding principle contained in PAIA. The refusal letter itself is scant justification, showing the lack of care in considering this crucial application which seeks to bring the much-debated Simelane report to the public for South Africans to decide for themselves.
We trust that when considering the appeal, the Presidency will duly apply their mind to the issue at hand and takes seriously their constitutional duty and commitment to accountability, transparency, and open government. We will not rest until both the President and Minister Simelane bare all to the people that they are meant to serve and protect.