Energy, mineral resources ministers dodge bullets in Parliament
Mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane and energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson danced around several questions fired at them in a sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Zwane came under fire for a controversial statement saying that Cabinet had resolved to call a judicial inquiry into South Africa’s banking system, following the decision by the country’s banks to withdraw banking facilities from the Gupta family.
DA MP, David Maynier asked the minister if he would resign, after the presidency distanced itself from Zwane’s recommendation.
Meanwhile, energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson was called to answer allegations that politicians had benefited financially from the sale of South Africa’s strategic oil reserves in May.
Read: Government ‘secretly’ sold off R5 billion worth of SA oil reserves – and got ripped off
With both Zwane and Joemat-Petersson, no solid answers were given.
Zwane said that he ‘appreciated’ the question, but said it was not Maynier’s place to ask it.
“There’s a separation of powers and this matter – whether I resign or not – the matter belongs to the Cabinet. As a result, the Honourable Maynier cannot ask me whether I’ll resign or not.”
He then doubled down on his proposal, saying that many South Africans, not just the Gupta family, had suffered “abuse” at the hands of the banks.
“Since that incident (the closure of the Guptas’ bank accounts), many have come forward saying they’ve ‘suffered’ at the hand of banks,” Zwane said. “Many South Africans have been subjected to this kind of abuse.”
Read: Cabinet seeks judicial inquiry into banks after Gupta blacklisting
Joemat-Petersson was also not forthcoming, saying that a full investigation into the sale of the oil reserves was ongoing. She noted that, in the future, before any sale of assets can go ahead, both Treasury and the auditor general will need to give the go-ahead.
Responding to a question asking if anyone within the ANC benefited from the sale – seeking a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – Joemat-Petersson said she would not comment on gossip.
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