“It’s an insult to the people.” And the Congress of the People (Cope) doesn’t want anything to do with the ad hoc committee established to deal with police minister Nathi Nhleko’s on Nkandla.

Neither does the Democratic Alliance (DA)‚ which voted against the ad hoc committee saying it won’t be “co-opted by the African National Congress (ANC) into legitimising the president’s evasion of accountability”.

The DA had sought to expand the committee’s terms of reference to include Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s “Secure in Comfort” report‚ as well as summon her‚ Jacob Zuma‚ Nhleko and minister of public works Thulas Nxesi to appear before it.

This proposed amendment was blocked by the ANC’s parliamentary majority in what the DA leader Mmusi Maimane labelled “a great loss for executive accountability”.

“The DA has therefore voted against the establishment of the ad hoc committee as it is clear from its narrow terms of reference that…like its predecessors‚ it will be nothing more than a smokescreen to shield the president from any and all responsibility‚” Maimane said.

He said Nhleko’s report “cannot be considered in isolation” as it “absolves the president of any liability”‚ while “the public protector’s findings that the president must repay a fair portion of the costs of the project must be upheld”.

Nhleko‚ said Maimane‚ “has a personal interest in absolving the president because this is the very person to whom he owes his appointment”.

Maimane added that the police minister “has no authority to overrule the remedial action prescribed by the public protector‚ a Chapter 9 institution”.

Cope’s Dennis Bloem said his party attached no weight to Nhleko’s report.

“What the police minister said in words did not matter one jot with us. His copious sweating (seen while delivering the report) told a deeper tale and that is what we should never forget‚” said Bloem.

Bloem pointed out that Cope had snubbed a similar “ad hoc committee established in April 2014”.

“Other parties walked out later. We saw the ad hoc committee for the blatant farce it was‚” said Bloem‚ who added that Cope “remains resolute in its decision” not to have anything to do with the latest committee.

“We have the ruling party creating a further ad hoc committee of members with paint brushes in one hand and buckets of white paint in the other‚” said Bloem.

“They need not search their conscience or revisit their oaths of office in undermining parliament to add a thicker layer of whitewash. They follow orders and act as programmable robots.

 “We will not participate in undermining the Constitution nor the office of the public protector.”