CAPE TOWN African National Congress (ANC) MP Andrew Feinstein called on parliament's public accounts committee yesterday to rise above party politics if it was to perform its oversight role successfully.

Feinstein, who was recently axed as public accounts committee study group chairman, told a seminar hosted by Idasa that government could have avoided controversy surrounding the arms procurement deal had it played its cards openly from the outset.

The committee boasted, among other things, having held the executive accountable on scandals such as Sarafina 2, the Independent Broadcasting Authority's credit card corruption, recommending that former correctional services commissioner Khulekani Sithole be fired and ruling that former Science, Technology, Arts and Culture Minister Winnie Madikizela-Mandela pay expenses she had claimed in travelling abroad.

Feinstein stressed the need to "insulate" the committee from party political influence. "My own plea is for the development of a framework of understanding of what role a public accounts committee should be playing in a democratic Parliament. This could be written into the (parliamentary) rules."

Feinstein was replaced last week as head of the ANC on the standing committee on public accounts after party bosses intimated they felt his approach to the probe into the R43bn arms deal was too independent. He was replaced by ANC deputy chief whip Geoff Doidge, while party loyalists were also brought in.

Feinstein said cabinet ministers had failed to appear before the committee since it was set up in 1994. Four ministers had, however, recently asked to address the committee.

He said even if a mechanism was found to insulate committee members from party political pressures, the question would arise as to whether adopting an independent stance on such a committee could "jeopardise one's political future".

Feinstein said he believed a public accounts committee needed to be nonpartisan, and chaired by an opposition MP.

This contradicted the stance of ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni, who said on Sunday: "I know of no committee in respect of the ANC, which is above party political discipline". 

With acknowledgement to Simphiwe Xako and Business Day.