Report
of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the request
by the National Assembly to reconsider the nomination of Advocate LKB Mpumlwana
as a Commissioner for the South African Human Rights Commission, dated 31
August 2010.
The
Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, having
considered the request by the National Assembly to reconsider the nomination of
Advocate LKB Mpumlwana as a Commissioner to the South African Human Rights
Commission, reports as follows:
1.
Advertisements calling for persons to be nominated for
appointment as Commissioners to the South African Human Rights Commission
(SAHRC) were placed in both national and regional newspapers in May 2009 and,
again, in September 2009. The interviews were held at Parliament from 14 to 17
September 2009: Adv LKB Mpumlwana was interviewed on 16 September 2009. After
deliberating, the Committee recommended six nominees to the
National Assembly for appointment as Commissioners to the SAHRC. Specifically, it
recommended that Adv LKB Mpumlwana be appointed to the Commission in a
full-time capacity.
2.
However, during the debate
on the nominations, certain matters were brought to the National Assembly’s attention.
It was alleged that during his interview with the Committee, Adv Mpumlwana had
failed to disclose that:
2.1.
He had been employed
concurrently in the Premier’s Office in the Provincial
Administration of the Province of the
2.2.
He also omitted to disclose
that he was discharged from the employ of the TRC after being found guilty in a
disciplinary hearing.
3.
On 12 November 2009, the National
Assembly noted that the President had not appointed Adv. Mpumlwana to allow it to
reconsider his nomination. It amended its resolution of 22 September 2010,
omitting Adv. Mpumlwana’s name from the nomination list. The matter was then referred
to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development for
further consideration and report.
4.
The Committee met on 28 July 2010 to consider the
National Assembly’s request.
4.1
The Committee, in particular, noted the judgement in Truth and
Reconciliation Commission v Mpumlwana and Mpumlwana v Truth And Reconciliation
Commission And Another [2001] 3 All Sa 58 (Ckl) which found, among others, that
Adv Mpumlwana “by his non-disclosure of his employment in the Eastern Cape
Provincial Administration fraudulently misrepresented to the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission that he was a fit and proper person to be employed by
it, whereas that was not the case”.
4.2 Adv Mpumlwana was given the opportunity to
address the Committee on the issues raised.
5.
After considering all the
material before it, and Adv Mpumlwana’s response, the Committee felt that it
could not continue to support his nomination as a Commissioner to the SAHRC in
the light of the High Court Judgement in Truth
and Reconciliation Commission v Mpumlwana and Mpumlwana v Truth And
Reconciliation Commission And Another [2001] 3 All Sa 58 (Ckl).
Recommendation
6.
The Committee recommends
that the National Assembly withdraw the nomination of Adv. Mpumlwana.
Report to be considered.