‘Parliament is an embarrassment’: Heated clash erupts as MPs walk out of ad hoc committee

DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach during Parliament’s ad hoc committee at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town on 9 October 2025. Picture: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach Proceedings of parliament’s ad hoc committee turned contentious on Thursday, 12 March 2026, as DA members walked out over concerns about testimony from a controversial witness. Tenderpreneur Kishene Chetty appeared before the committee in Cape Town as part of its inquiry into allegations of corruption, criminal activity, and political interference within South Africa’s justice system.

Chetty is one of 18 accused individuals – including South African Police Service (Saps) members – facing charges of fraud, corruption, forgery and theft linked to the alleged misuse of funds from irregular personal protective equipment (PPE) contractsvalued at about R8 million. According to the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), the funds were allegedly used to pay legal fees for police officers at the time of their arrest in a separate corruption case that is currently before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Chetty and some of his co-accused are also implicated in four additional criminal matters involving allegedly irregular Saps contracts awarded to companies linked to him.

One of these cases relates to a R56 million police vehicle branding contract, where Chetty and 40 other individuals face charges including fraud, money laundering and racketeering. A legal challenge by the suspects to have all the criminal cases consolidated wasstruck off the roll in July 2025. Additionally, Chetty is reportedly also facing separate charges of fraud and tax evasion in a case where he allegedly defrauded the South African Revenue Service (Sars) of nearly R14 million. During his testimony, Chetty confirmed he was currently waiting for a judge to be assigned to hear the review application.