DAcalls for IEC boss to quit to save credibility

[caption id="attachment_36975" align="alignright" width="200"] PANSY TLAKULA[/caption]

THE DA has called for the establishment of an ad hoc committee to deal with the Electoral Court's recommendation that Advocate Pansy Tlakula be fired as chair of the Electoral Commission (IEC).

DA federal executive chairman James Selfe has also called for Tlakula to consider quitting her job before she is removed by parliament in order to save her own credibility and that of the IEC.

"It is the first time in our democracy that a member of a Chapter 9 institution has been found to have committed misconduct," Selfe said.

Selfe's call comes after the Electoral Court on Wednesday ruled that Tlakula was guilty of misconduct and that parliament should remove her from her position.

The UDM, ACDP, Agang SA, COPE and the EFF had asked the court to make a ruling following reports by public protector Thuli Madonsela and the Treasury.

Madonsela had found that Tlakula was implicated in an office lease deal that was irregular and violated procurement rules and that she had a relationship with parliament's finance portfolio committee chairman, Thaba Mufumadi, a shareholder in a company which owns the offices.

ANC caucus spokesman Moloto Mothapo was non-committal on his party's stance on how parliament should deal with the issue.

"Parliament [must] independently apply its mind on that recommendation through a process that it will establish," Mothapo said.

He said whether parliament chose to deal with the matter through the Home Affairs portfolio committee or through an ad hoc committee, his party would abide by the decision. - Aphiwe Deklerk