South African Parliament Speaker Didiza does not recall TRC meetings — TimesLIVE

In South Africa, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza said at an inquiry into Truth and Reconciliation Commission cases that she was unable to independently recall meetings from nearly 20 years ago that were allegedly connected to the handling of such cases. In 2006, she served as acting justice minister for just over five weeks.

As TimesLIVE reports, Didiza appeared before the commission on Monday, and her testimony was led by advocate Nyoko Mwangwa. Didiza stressed that, as the temporary head of the department, she was not fully familiar with all matters within the ministry's area of responsibility.

Request for minutes

Didiza's testimony concerned two meetings that were allegedly linked to the handling of Truth and Reconciliation Commission cases. One of them allegedly took place at the home of the late social development minister Zola Skweyiya.

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Didiza said she had requested the minutes in order to understand the content of that meeting, but did not receive them. She also questioned whether it had been a formal government meeting. According to her, if the meeting had government status, it should have been convened by the head of the relevant cluster — the then security minister.

Acting appointment

Then-president Thabo Mbeki appointed Didiza as acting justice minister when she was public works minister and justice minister Brigitte Mabandla fell ill. According to Didiza, she held the post from September 5 to October 13, 2006.

Didiza rejected the suggestion that an acting minister could initiate new programmes in a department, calling such a role temporary until the permanent minister returned. The commission also heard that advocate Vusi Pikoli had previously testified about Didiza's presence at one of the meetings, where she mostly listened because she was unfamiliar with the ministry's issues. Didiza said she also did not recall another meeting that allegedly concerned the security cluster, or a proposal to establish a task team.