Cape Town - Andrew Feinstein, the latest victim in the saga surrounding South Africa's arms deal of R43 billion, on Tuesday said a definite need exists for the standing committee for public accounts (Scopa) to be "protected" through legislation from "party politics" and pressure from the executive authority in order to ensure its independence and credibility.

Feinstein, who lost his position as ANC public accounts study group leader in parliament to ANC deputy whip Geoff Doidge, said if mechanisms are not put in place to protect the committee's independence it could result in the watchdog body's role mainly depending on the bona fides of its members.

"Since 1994 no executive authority representative [the presidency and cabinet] has been asked to appear before the committee, however, now there are requests from ministers for this to happen. The question which arises when this kind of interaction occurs between the committee and the executive authority, is what happens if the committee disagrees with the executive authority," Feinstein asked.

He pointed out that controversial issues handled by Scopa in the past, such as the health department's R13 million Sarafina production, and unauthorised travel and other expenses incurred by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in her capacity as former arts, culture, science and technology deputy minister had been cleared with the respective directors-general, and never with members of the cabinet itself, with the explicit aim of avoiding party pressure.

Feinstein is the first ANC MP and Scopa member to express his views publicly over the surveillance role of parliament over the executive authority, when he appeared as guest speaker at an Institute for a Democratic South Africa (Idasa) seminar.

His being replaced as chairman of the study group followed on his insistence, in terms of a Scopa recommendation last year, that Judge Willem Heath's special investigation unit be included in the probe into a multi-billion rand strategic arms contract, together with the auditor-general, the Public Protector and the Directorate for Public Prosecutions.

Feinstein, whose political career in the ANC seems doubtful following his statements on Tuesday, said the "ANC would decide over his future", although he would remain a Scopa member.

He is, however, convinced that mechanisms to protect Scopa's integrity were the only way to ensure that surveillance of public money is executed by a credible body.

With the ANC and the presidency scurrying to preach moral credibility over Heath and his unit's exclusion from the arms deal probe, and ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni making statements over the weekend that party loyalty should have priority over the democratic process, the arms scandal elicited further questions among political analysts and academics at the Idasa conference over constitutional conditions that divide the powers of the legislative and executive authorities. 

With acknowledgement to Adrian Lackay and News24.