The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) says African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament Vincent Smith has made the right decision to request to step aside as chairperson of various portfolio committees.
Smith has made the request pending the outcome of the Ethics Committee’s investigation into his conduct.
The ANC has not yet granted Smith’s request to step aside. The party said ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu would present Smith’s request to the ANC’s political committee which meets on Wednesday.
The committee will make the final decision on whether to grant Smith’s request.
Casac Executive Secretary Lawson Naidoo says the ANC should grant Smith the request to step aside.
“I think Mr Smith has done the right thing and I would hope that the ANC sees the sense of what he has proposed. If the ANC were to insist on him continuing to play that role, I think it would undermine the integrity of those processes given the severity of the allegations against Mr Smith. I think he needs to be given an opportunity to clear his name or for the Ethics Committee to deal with the issue properly,” says Naidoo.
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