Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, has slammed National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams for showing disregard for the inquiry.
This comes after the suspended MP failed to submit an affidavit in support of his testimony over a period of nine months.
Adams only submitted his affidavit late on Sunday night and blamed a faulty computer for the delay, an explanation dismissed by the commission chairperson.
“Parliament can confirm that I have a very problematic laptop and, actually, my laptop is either in for repairs or frozen. When I became aware of the emails, it was, I really don’t want to lie,” said Adams when asked to explain the late submission.
“Why would you have asked for a date? You would have seen from the communication which you got three months back that the statement was required from October last year already. Why would you have asked for a date? Three months back, you became aware that, oh, for such a long time, a statement was required from me,” said Madlanga, dismissing Adams’ explanation that he only saw the commission’s correspondence six months after it was sent.
Madlanga reluctantly agreed to postpone Adams’ testimony but came out hard on the outspoken politician, warning him not to undermine the commission again.
“It seems to me that you are not taking this commission seriously, and starting from now and going forward, you should not treat this commission the way you have thus far, because everything you’ve said thus far is just totally unbelievable. I do not believe it.
“This should mean that you cannot function at Parliament as a parliamentarian, and it also suggests that you are not even taking the people that you are supposed to serve seriously. If, for as long as you suggest is the case, you have been using a laptop that you basically cannot use.
“You are not taking us as a commission seriously, and I would dare say you are not even taking the people that you are supposed to serve seriously. Starting from now, going forward, you must take this commission seriously, Mr Adams,” said an angry Madlanga.