[ad_1]
Acting DA leader John Steenhuisen described the decision of the joint permanent defense committee to refer him to spokesman Thandi Modise for tweeting a letter about the larger deployment of the SA National Defense Force (SANDF) as “ridiculous”.
On Tuesday night, shortly before President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation, Steenhuisen tweeted the letter, which said Ramaphosa had authorized the deployment of an additional 73,180 SANDF members to help police combat the spread of Covid-19.
The next day, the committee met digitally, and ANC MP Anele Gxoyiya asked the committee to deal with the “mischievous leak” of the SANDF deployment letter.
Committee chair Cyril Xaba agreed that it was unfortunate that the letter was tweeted before it was aired on the committee.
“It bothered me that I received calls from the public to confirm authenticity,” he said.
There were no objections from the committee when asked if the matter should be referred to the President.
Hysteria
In a statement released after the meeting, Co-President Mamagase Nchabeleng said: “We see this in a serious light as the publication appears to have been intended to create hysteria against deployment.”
Approached for comment Thursday, Steenhuisen said in an email that he appreciated the committee’s decision to refer the speaker “to the fact that [he] tweeted a letter that was already in public circulation. “
READ | DA proposes ‘smart block plan’
“It is such [a] patently ridiculous and ridiculous accusation and the president will be terribly embarrassed when he realizes how I came to be in possession of a letter addressed to him, “he said.
He said Xaba and the committee should have been concerned about the legality of the letter, as it was not following the correct parliamentary procedures.
Steenhuisen said the committee “has essentially sat on its hands, rejecting requests to meet and essentially allowing the executive a free hand to deploy the SANDF in this period.”
It led to alleged widespread abuses of civil liberties, and therefore Xaba should resign as president, he added.
[ad_2]
