Parliament’s legal services has told the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy that it’s empowered to compel any government entity to provide its audited financial statements as part of oversight.
The committee had sought legal opinion after the Mineral Resources and Energy Department instructed the Central Energy Fund and South African Nuclear Energy Corporation not to submit their financial statements to the committee.
Spokesperson for Parliament’s legal services, Andile Tetyana, says even though so-called Schedule 2 entities are by law not bound to submit their audited financial statements, Parliament is in terms of its rules entitled to compel them to provide information.
“If you look at Section 56 of the constitution chair, it’s very clear chair there that this committee or this National Assembly is empowered chair to request or even for that matter to use stick approach of compelling people to come before Parliament,” says Tetyana.
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