Parliament’s executive authority has begun in earnest to implement some of the recommendations of the Public Service Commission (PSC) inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Lennox Garane.

This was revealed by the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr Amos Masondo, who briefed the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament on the outcomes of the PSC inquiry. The committee dealt with the report following its postponement of a meeting in September to allow the executive authority the opportunity to first brief Mr Garane’s family.  

Mr Masondo said that Parliament will soon be appointing independent consultants to conduct a special inquiry into the functioning of the International Relations and Protocol Division. 

He said that other interventions made by the institution include moving three employees from the division at their request following the incident. “We also consulted with all employees in the International Relations and Protocol Division during the assessment of available space within the institution in order to explore available options to move the division elsewhere,” said Mr Masondo.    

 

The committee has reassured Mr Garane’s family and the public about its commitment to its oversight role over Parliament. This is to ensure that Parliament puts in place measures to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances that led to Mr Garane’s death.    

The co-Chairpersons of the committee, Ms Gladys Mahlangu and Ms Peace Mabe, reiterated that Mr Garane’s death brought into the spotlight serious shortcomings within the administration of Parliament.  

“We strongly believe that the whole situation should have been handled differently. We emphasise, however, that Parliament should put measures in place to ensure that the same situation should never recur,” said Ms Mabe.

The committee undertook to monitor implementation of the recommendations of the report.

Justice Molafo
10 October 2019