Newly-appointed public accounts committee chairman Francois Beukman's plans to restore trust among Scopa members got off to a rocky start on Wednesday after opposition parties labelled him an ANC lackey and opposed his appointment.

Beukman was nominated by the African National Congress, which has a majority of members on Scopa. He defeated the Democratic Alliance's nominee, Nigel Bruce, in a vote.

The appointment, the first post the ANC has given to the NNP after the two parties signed a co-operation deal last year, is traditionally given to a member of the opposition.

DA public accounts spokesman Mark Lowe said Beukman's appointment was a serious setback for democracy and undermined the integrity of the committee.

"The ANC has effectively appointed one of their lackeys to the key position of chair of Parliament's oversight and accountability function, and ridden roughshod over any chance of securing independent and objective leadership to this key institution."

It was a "hollow victory for Mr Beukman and a sad but predictable day for democracy", he said.

Lowe had earlier challenged the appointment, saying the NNP MP was not a member of the committee.

Beukman served for one year on the committee, when the NNP was still part of the DA, but left after the break-up. He was re-appointed to Scopa on Tuesday, allowing his election as chairman on Wednesday.

He replaces his colleague Adriaan Blaas on the committee.

Beukman's appointment follows the resignation of Dr Gavin Woods earlier this year.

The IFP MP cited political interference in the committee's work as one of the reasons for his resignation.

Scopa's work was severely hampered last year due to in-fighting, along party lines, over the government's multi-billion rand arms deal.

Woods declined to comment on Wednesday on Beukman's appointment, but said he was awaiting his party's decision on whether he would remain an ordinary member of the committee.

United Democratic Movement spokesman Dr Gerhard Koornhof put Beukman's appointment down to "blatant intervention by the executive in the affairs of Scopa".

"This is another body blow to the future of the committee."

Given the way the election of a new chair was handled by the ANC and NNP, Beukman would "become his master's voice".

Koornhof said what was needed was independent thinking and original investigations outside the normal scope of scores of Auditor General reports.

The African Christian Democratic Party said Beukman would enjoy its support if the NNP's new stance on co-operative governance did not diminish his independence.

"We trust that Mr Beukman will follow in Mr Woods' footsteps in seeking to uphold and confirm the rights and responsibilities of the oversight role of Parliament through Scopa, as practised by democratic parliaments worldwide," ACDP committee member Cheryllyn Dudley said.

Dudley had earlier voted with the DA against Beukman's appointment.

Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) analyst Judith February told Sapa that Beukman had a great responsibility on his shoulders to take forward the committee's work.

She added that it was interesting to see that a member of the NNP was chosen to lead Scopa, given its co-operation agreement with the ANC.

She hoped the committee took seriously its mandate of overseeing public finances, after being split along party lines over the arms deal.

February also said it was a pity Woods had resigned, given his "instrumental role" in the drafting of the Public Finance Management Act.

Beukman said shortly after his appointment that he wanted to restore trust among the committee's members.

The new chairman told reporters he planned to meet individual Scopa members to discuss, among other things, how best to restore trust and develop a good team spirit.

He also hoped the committee would revert to decision-making by consensus, as was once its tradition, but which had ended after acrimony among members about the arms deal investigations.

NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said Beukman had been tasked to restore Scopa's credibility, because over the past year the committee had degenerated into a forum for party-political squabbling.

"We have to turn that around. Scopa must become the taxpayers' watchdog. Scopa is not a forum for any political party or group of political parties. It is the taxpayers' committee," he said.

With acknowledgements to Gordon Bell and Sapa.