Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests has presented its findings on allegations of misconduct against former communications minister Dina Pule, but the matter has still not been put to bed.
The African National Congress (ANC) has now called for Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard - who formed part of the Ethics Committee hearing on Pule - to be investigated and removed from the committee for "transgressing the ethics code".
The DA has in turn labelled the ANC's allegations false, saying they are "nothing more than an attempt to draw attention away from their failure to take decisive action against Dina Pule".
In a statement today, ANC chief whip Stone Sizani said he had written to the speaker's office to request the investigation and removal of Kohler-Barnard, who he says violated her oath to confidentiality and the ethical code of conduct "by disclosing sensitive information to her friends on social media during the course of the hearing".
Sizani says an article published in The Post last week, authored by Nazareem Ebrahim - "one of Ms Kohler-Barnard's Facebook followers" - indicates that Kohler-Barnard regularly posted updates on the proceedings of the hearing.
He says the article indicates Kohler-Barnard provided updates about the matter ("of how the former minister nearly pulled the wool over the ethics committee's eyes") through Facebook posts.
"By disclosing information pertaining to the proceedings of the confidential hearing on social media, Kohler-Barnard violated the ethics code, undermined the integrity of the process and brought the institution into disrepute."
The ANC notes that the complaint against Kohler-Barnard and its call for her removal from the committee does not in any way change the party's strong position on the former minister's conduct and its support for the outcome of the hearing.
DA chief whip Watty Watson has retorted, saying the ANC "offered Pule hugs and hand-shakes" in the National Assembly during the ethics committee's presentation of its findings on Tuesday - "instead of removing her from Parliament".
Watson says the speaker must go ahead and investigate the ANC's "false claims, which are based on no real evidence", and make a ruling on the matter.
"It will then be revealed for what it is: a petty move by a new chief whip, who clearly finds it easier to attack opposition MPs than take decisive actions against his own disgraced members."
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