ANC MP Soviet Lekganyane on Tuesday called on MPs to do their work in the name of South Africans when they investigate allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

“All the eyes of the people of the Republic are on this committee, and all the hopes of the people of this country are on us. Wherever there could have been unscrupulous activities, South Africans will want to hear us rise into the occasion speaking on their behalf,” Lekganyane said.

He made the statement when he was elected unopposed as the chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee following his nomination by ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli and seconded by IFP MP Albert Mncwango.

EFF MP Julius Malema turned down a nomination by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, saying: “I am not available.”

Lekganyane thanked the MPs for showing confidence when they elected him as the chairperson.

He noted that previous surveys showed that South Africans were losing confidence in public institutions, including Parliament.

Lekganyane said the last survey by Afrobarometer showed the confidence level of South Africans in Parliament was standing at 27%.

“It is up to us, all of us sitting here, to say those confidence levels are what we represent, or do they represent us as MPs. If we are happy, this is what represents us or if this is what we represent, we will continue to work as if there is nothing that reflects how we do our work, but my feeling is that all of us here, and which I will urge all of you, is that we have been appointed from a position of incompetence,” he said.

“And every day when we do our work, let’s find a way to do better so that we can improve from the incompetence that anybody outside looking at us would say ‘we elected these men and women and in some way, this is what they have done and we don’t think it represents us as South Africans’.

“We have a duty here to raise the flag of the Parliament of the Republic and reignite the confidence of the people of South Africa in Parliament as an institution that can represent them to the best of its abilities,” he said.

Lekganyane was hopeful that the MPs from across the political divide would work together on the mandate they have been given until the end of October

“I was very impressed when I arrived here; almost everybody was here. This is the kind of attitude and work ethic that will take us to greater heights. I want to give you 100% for the manner we responded to the call and thank the organisers of this meeting for the work you have done.”

Lekganyane is currently the co-chairperson of the Joint Committee on Financial Management of Parliament.

He previously served as the MEC for local government and human settlements in Limpopo between 2009 and 2012.

When he was elected as ANC provincial secretary, he resigned from the provincial legislature and returned in 2014 to serve as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Finance.

In 2018, he was again elected as the ANC provincial secretary and then elected as an MP in 2024.

“The period between 2022 and 2024, I worked with the Minister of Basic Education, Minister (Angie) Motshekga, as her special advisor. I have four university qualifications, among them there is a law degree and an Honours degree in political science,” said Lekganyane when he introduced himself after his election as committee chairperson.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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