ACDP Chief Whip suspended for speaking out

African Christian Democratic Party Chief Whip Mr Louis Green has been suspended from the Parliamentary Ethics Committee investigating three charges against Deputy President Jacob Zuma relating to the allegation that he failed to declare his business interests and benefits in contravention of parliament's code of conduct.

His suspension resulted from information Mr Green gave to the media regarding documents about Deputy President Jacob Zuma's claims that payments made to him were interest-bearing loans.

One of the charges is that Zuma lobbied for remuneration in contravention of the code that prohibits MPs from lobbying for business interests or for political pressure groups in return for money. The Scorpions asked parliament to investigate whether Zuma had declared R1,16-million, received in several amounts, from his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, or companies controlled by Shaik. Another charge is that he failed to declare his interest in a company or close corporation.

Committee chairperson, Fazela Mohamed apparently wanted to clear the Deputy President of violating the code of conduct as it appears that Zuma had disclosed his membership of Michegan CC in the confidential portion of Parliament's register of interests that records all donations or gifts given to MPs or stakes in any companies MPs might have. According to Mohamed, Zuma was not guilty of lobbying for remuneration and the payments made to him were loans.

However, according to Mr Green, upon questioning, it was revealed that many of the "loan" agreements were only recently drawn up.

"Documentation submitted to members of Parliament's Ethics Committee indicates that the payments made to the deputy president were loans. However on further questioning by the committee about the date of the loan agreements, it appears that payments were made based on verbal agreements and many of the written documents were only drawn up recently," Mr Green said.

Accepting his suspension on Wednesday morning, Mr Green said that he believed he was justified in commenting, bringing the information to the public's notice.

"The ACDP is concerned about the possible conflict of interest that may have arisen as a result of the deputy president owing so much money to people. The manner in which he has conducted his financial affairs has made him vulnerable to pressure from those who assisted him financially.

"Accepting such large amounts of money opened the deputy president up to influence from parties that could benefit from his public position. One would expect better judgement from a person in such a high office," Mr Green said.

"All the information that was given to the press should be in the public domain, because this matter is in the public's interest and they are demanding information and a process of transparency," Mr Green said.

"Members of the committee should not be muzzled on what is happening and all political parties have the right to make political comment on issues that are not classified."


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