CAPE TOWN, Friday 4 September 2026 — National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has ruled that Malusi Gigaba’s removal from Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence was not procedurally correct, effectively restoring the previous committee composition until the ANC formally processes its attempt to replace him.
Didiza intervened after the EFF challenged Wednesday’s election of ANC MP Mzimasi Hala as the committee’s new co-chairperson.
She said Parliament had received no formal ANC communication changing Gigaba’s membership status before Hala was elected.
According to a letter reported by EWN, Didiza agreed that the “purported change in the membership of Dr Gigaba without any formal communication is not procedurally correct”.
She instructed the committee to revert to its previous composition until the prescribed process has been completed.
That means the dispute has moved beyond the EFF’s challenge to Hala’s appointment.
Gigaba remains, procedurally, one of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence’s co-chairpersons for now, despite the ANC’s political decision to replace him.
Parliament’s official committee page on Friday continued to list Malusi Gigaba and Phiroane Phala as chairpersons, while Hala remained listed as an ordinary member.
Parliament’s individual profile for Gigaba also identifies him as co-chairperson of the committee.
The ANC attempted to replace Gigaba on Wednesday.
Members were informed during the committee meeting that he had been relieved of his responsibilities, after which Hala was elected as the National Assembly component’s new co-chairperson.
Opposition MPs questioned whether a lawful vacancy existed.
EFF MP Carl Niehaus asked during the meeting whether Gigaba had resigned and argued that members should be told how his position had become vacant before electing another chairperson.
The EFF subsequently escalated the matter to Didiza.
The party itself does not oppose Gigaba’s removal politically and has previously argued that he should not chair the committee while facing criminal charges.
Its challenge instead focused on whether parliamentary procedures were followed.
Gigaba faces corruption-related criminal charges arising from Transnet locomotive procurement.
Those charges have not been proven, and neither the ANC nor Parliament has publicly established that the criminal case was the reason for the attempt to remove him from the defence committee.
Didiza’s decision does not prevent the ANC from replacing Gigaba.
It requires the party to first communicate the change formally through Parliament and for the committee’s composition to be properly altered before another chairperson is elected.
The distinction matters because parliamentary committees are constituted through formal party representation and House procedures rather than solely through internal party instructions.
The Joint Standing Committee on Defence performs oversight over the South African National Defence Force and broader defence matters and is jointly constituted by members of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces.
Gigaba, a former finance, home affairs and public enterprises minister, has served as the National Assembly-side co-chairperson alongside Phala.
Didiza’s ruling therefore temporarily reverses Wednesday’s leadership change but does not necessarily settle who will chair the committee in the longer term.
The ANC can still formally withdraw or replace Gigaba as a committee member and restart the process that resulted in Hala’s election.
The immediate question is whether the party now submits the required communication to Parliament and whether the committee subsequently reconvenes to elect Hala again.
Until that happens, Parliament’s previous committee composition remains in effect.
