Democratic Alliance wants the briefing to be open

By Khanyisa Tabata
22 September 2009

The Democratic Alliance has objected to the fact that the portfolio committee meeting in which the police minister will be reporting back on crime statistics will be held behind closed doors.

The DA says the Constitution requires that Parliament conduct its business in an open and transparent manner.

“Holding this session behind closed doors, and then holding a press conference immediately afterwards, gives off the impression that the minister is trying to stage-manage the release of crime statistics, instead of allowing due parliamentary process to be followed”.

“Instead of accounting to parliament for the crime rate, the minister wants to hold a press conference on his own turf, and away from parliamentary oversight. That is not something the DA finds acceptable," said DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard.