Skelemani mishandled Kgosi Mosadi Pan African Parliament furore

Adam Phetlhe

The ravaging inferno sparked by the purported resignation of Kgosi Mosadi Seboko from the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is fuelled by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Phandu Skelemani mishandling the matter. Had he performed due diligence on the alleged resignation, the furore would have been averted. Skelemani is a gifted, patient listener who has displayed these traits ever since assuming the position. That is why, as an accomplished legal scholar, he is always reading MPs the Riot Act when it comes to points of order or procedure. I was therefore astounded when he allowed the purported resignation to cloud his judgement.

It was a given that opposition politicians will relish riding on this matter for maximum political benefit, given how they asked pointed questions with regards to the authenticity of the alleged resignation.

By the time the Speaker was alerted about the alleged resignation by Kgosi Mosadi from PAP, his immediate priority should have been to verify the claim before announcing to Parliament and the world. As it turned out on Tuesday, the Speaker was left helpless because there was no proof of any resignation and therefore he should not have allowed the matter to be discussed further, especially that it had been discussed earlier at the General Assembly.

The first thing he should have done in my view was to get correspondence from the Speaker of the PAP with accompanying documentation to confirm that Kgosi Mosadi has resigned. Just like his MPs are required to write a letter of resignation if they so wish, the Speaker should have demanded to see Kgosi Mosadi’s resignation letter from PAP. The next thing for the Speaker would be to speak directly to Kgosi Mosadi to hear from the horse’s mouth, or atleast assign the Clerk of the National Assembly.