Speaker, the Public Works task team report into the security upgrades at President Zuma's private home in Nkandla has apparently been classified and, as a result, it has been referred to the closed Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence.
It remains unclear how the Minister of Public Works, the hon Thulas Nxesi, could have classified this report in the first place. The National Key Points Act does not empower any Minister to classify a report of this nature. In addition, the Minimum Information Security Standards policy has no basis in law and cannot be relied on for this referral. Minister Nxesi must clarify as a matter of urgency how he classified this report and under what law. He must also explain to Parliament why he found it necessary to classify this report at all, given that it should have been part of the process of ensuring transparency on the Nkandla scandal.
The reality is that the entire referral of this report to a closed committee is without basis. It should have been made public and then referred to the appropriate portfolio committee to deliberate upon in an open and transparent manner. We can only conclude that this is an attempt to cover up the events surrounding this scandal to protect those at the very top from being held accountable. The report must be sent back to the Minister and declassified without any further delay. [Applause.]