Party pooper: Andries Nel - Sies!

Mhambi has decided that its time to expose, to hound and to damn. Now and again I will chronicle online those ANC members (and others) that have damaged good governance and democratic values in South Africa.

Quite often important information is revealed in books, information that never makes it to a wider audience. Which suits some people just fine. By writing about this information online I will do my bit with the help of Google. There's no escape from information on the superhighway.

Mhambi reserves the right to profile who he wishes. Those who are mentioned and named are of course, welcome to reply.


The South African Parliament
Originally uploaded by Wildebeast1.
Charity (and putting right wrongs) should start at home.

And to me that home is the institution and people at the University of Pretoria who shaped my early lefty political views. Hell hath no fury like an idealist betrayed.

Hence ANC deputy chief whip Andries Nel is Mhambi's first Party Pooper.
(Andries Nel's response is here)

He was the pinnacle of lefty Afrikaner commitment at the university when I was a student. Other prominent lefties during my time included the likes of Hedwig Barry, Andries Bezuidenhout, Danie Brand, Irma du Plessis, Graham Maitland, Karin van Marle, Nico Bezuidenhout, Jacob van Garderen and Dawie Nel etc.

But after university Hedwig eschewed politics for a career in design, Andries, Danie, Irma and Karin went for academia. Dawie, Nico and Jacob stayed in politics of sort, and while Dawie has been doing sterling work as the director of Out (A gay and lesbian support organisation), Nico is working for IDASA in Angola, while Jacob has just been appointed the head of Lawyers for Human Rights. Graham, as far as I can gather is a big shot in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Sies Andries

In the meanwhile, Andries Nel, who became an ANC MP in 1994 has been quietly climbing the ANC ranks. His loyalty must have been noted early on, as he was appointed to the Party’s whips office. Andries’s father, it must be noted, was a loyal servant of the Nationalist government.

Since the ANC has been losing whips at a rate of knots, Andries Nel is now a relatively senior deputy chief whip.

According to Andrew Feinstein of “After the Party” fame, Andries Nel has contributed to the demise of the moral fibre and the growth in corruption of the ANC thus:

On 11 October 2000 the then Chief Whip of the ANC Tony Yengeni wanted to see Feinstein and Laloo Chiba. These two gents had been selected by the ANC study group (the ANC component of Scopa, the parliamentary committee charged with investigating public accounts) to lead the questioning during the forthcoming public parliamentary hearing into that corrupt arms deal.

It was to be the most important public oversight meeting in the history of our fully democratic parliament.

Yengeni told them ‘I don’t think a public hearing is a good idea, this matter should be dealt with internally, like the Maduna matter.’

The Maduna matter refers to unconstitutional remarks made by Penuell Maduna, then minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs, about the then Auditor General, Henry Kluever.

Maduna misunderstood according to Feinstein a fairly standard accounting entry, and accused the AG of hiding a significant loss in oil reserves, for bad apartheid-era reasons. He persisted in these accusations even after the error had been pointed out to him by Barbara Hogan, a fellow ANC MP.

Maduna refused to retract his accusations, and thus caused a minor constitutional crisis.

Rather than allow a full investigation, the ANC decided to exonerate the Minister through the creation of an ANC dominated ad hoc committee of Parliament. This committee was chaired by ‘an ultra-loyal ANC whip, Andries Nel’. (Feinstein, p.161)

‘Despite hearing damning evidence against the Minister, the Committee found in his favour.’

This is the precedent that Tony Yengeni wanted Feinstein to follow now.

To his credit Feinstein pressed ahead with the meeting regardless, and so the snowball that was the revelations into the arms deal (some of which are still being uncovered) was set in motion.

Yengeni, and most senior ANC members (but interestingly at this stage, not Zuma), including Mbeki, was furious that the hearing had taken place.

As time passed direct pressure was put on Feinstein to stop a thorough investigation through Scopa. The ANC had put out public statement contradicting most of Scopa’s findings. On 29 January 2001 Yengeni again called the whole study group (the ANC component of Scopa) to his chambers.

Yengeni said ‘Comrades we have decided to strengthen the Public Accounts Committee. Feinstein will no longer chair the Study Group. Geoff Doidge will be the chair. He will be joined by comrade Andries Nel.’ ‘The ANC, from the President downwards, will exercise political control over Scopa.’

The new members of the committee were openly hostile to Feinstein. As far as Scopa was concerned the arms deal would be investigated no further.

Sies Andries! Sies, skaam jou.

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