FATHER, SON ELECTROCUTED!

LOBAMBA – Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Sibusiso Shongwe said he did not disobey the House of Assembly resolution to withdraw the estate policy.

Shongwe told the Parliament select committee that the Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini had already undertaken the responsibility and withdrew the policy on his behalf, publicly.

He said the situation may be likened to one when a boy may be sent to buy milk from the store.
“As he is about to do that the father of the house comes with milk then the issue becomes which milk can the boy get because already his father has bought the milk,” said Shongwe when he made his submission before the Zombodze Emuva MP Titus Thwala-led committee. The report was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday and is yet to be debated and adopted.

Shongwe further told the committee that the matter was now a subject of litigation in the High Court and there was no intention on his part to be contemptuous, further stating that an action on his part would have clouded the issue before the court.
The minister was informed by the MPs that Parliament had directed him to make a retraction and if he had any difficulties doing so why hadn’t he reported the difficulty he was faced with.

Shongwe said he had genuinely believed that the statement made by the PM had settled the matter and the fact that the silence of the House, in particular the Government Assurance Committee, did not bring the matter to his attention did not mean that the resolution was still alive.
“I honestly believed that the retraction of the prime minister ended the matter,” he said.

The minister pleaded ignorance of Parliament procedure as a new Member of Parliament and that he had expected that Parliament was now satisfied due to the prevailing developments.
Shongwe said the issue of the widows was very sensitive and it could not be done within 21 days.

He said there was a Bill drafted by a consultant from the UNDP, the Administration of Estates Bill with the Attorney General’s Office, to also include the issue of the Intestate Succession Act.

“I will honestly require the House to give me more time on the issue of legislation to bring the required legislation to Parliament,” he said.
The minister asked for at least six months because the process of drafting a Bill was very complex and it needed funding even at grass- roots level taking into account the diversity of customary law.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: