Please find attached soundbite by George Michalakis MP.
The Democratic Alliance notes the election of Ms Doris Mpapane from the African National Congress as the new chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Presidency.
The DA made it clear from the start that we cannot support a candidate from the same party as the President for this position, and therefore did not vote for Mpapane.
Similarly, in a statement yesterday, I made it clear that the DA cannot vote for a candidate from the MK/EFF Doomsday Coalition. The opposition’s candidate today, Mr Athol Trollip from Action SA yesterday led the opposition caucus to nominate an MK candidate for the position. The MK’s sole purpose, in our view, is to destabilise Parliament and, if Trollip was willing to hand the committee to the MK, a vote for him would have been as good as a vote for the MK.
The DA therefore had no option but to field our own candidate, Deputy Chief Whip Bax Nodada. Mr Nodada was sadly unsuccessful, but the DA proudly stood by the principles which we made clear from the start and we respect the democratic process that subsequently unfolded, albeit not ideal.
We now will use this committee, which the DA spearheaded, to hold the President and the Presidency accountable. We wish the new chairperson well.