Please find attached soundbite by Rikus Badenhorst MP.
- The DA submitted a 393-page bundle of documents to the President, Public Protector, and a Parliamentary Committee for investigation into alleged maladministration and abuse of power at Parliament;
- The Secretary to Parliament’s meteoric salary increases, questions surrounding his appointment, and allegations of maladministration of taxpayer millions for the 2023 BRICS Parliamentary Forum, warrant independent investigation.
- Thorough investigation by all three institutions is crucial in ridding Parliament of corruption.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lodged an official complaint with the office of the Public Protector against the Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, former speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and former Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr Amos Masondo.
Additionally, the DA has written to the President urging an independent SIU investigation and submitted the same documents to the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament (JSCFMP) for probing.
In our complaint, we urge these bodies to investigate serious allegations against the very top structure of the Parliamentary Executive. Our complaint sets out concrete grounds that warrant investigation, and we hope that the Public Protector, the President and the JSCFMP will treat these allegations with the seriousness they deserve.
The DA’s complaint is two-fold.
Firstly, to investigate whether the former Speaker and Chairperson manipulated appointment processes to ensure that Mr George was appointed as Parliament’s top executive, whether his annual salary was inflated by in a potentially irregular manner, and whether Parliament was misled in this regard.
Secondly, to investigate whether parliamentary functionaries, knowingly, irregularly, and without necessary approval, greatly exceeded the approved budget for the 2023 BRICS Parliamentary Forum by more than R6 million.
The Public Protector, SIU and JSCFMP must investigate the conduct of Mr George, the former Speaker, and the former Chairperson to get to the bottom of these allegations.
The DA welcomes the JSCFMP’s commitment to investigate these allegations in a meeting on 25 February 2026 in response to a request by George Michalakis, DA Chief Whip.
Supporting documents have been forwarded to the current Speaker, Ms Thoko Didiza MP, and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane MP, alerting them to the possibility of potentially corrupt actors operating in their midst.
We hope that Parliament’s Executive Authority investigates this matter and acts decisively against any and all perpetrators of possible corruption.
We live in a country where millions of households don’t have money to put food on the table – where millions of South Africans suffer in abject poverty. These same South Africans are then made to watch as millions are wasted on 5-star accommodation, luxury meals and expensive tastes. It is unthinkable that the culprits of this wastage are then rewarded with R5 million annual salaries.
This sort of behaviour, if proven true, is shameful beyond measure and the Democratic Alliance will stop at nothing to expose maladministration, corruption and wasteful expenditure – even at the very upper echelon of Parliament.