Eddie Koch
THE truth commission is discussing plans to subject staff to a security clearance test in a bid to prevent the leak of sensitive information.
But some of the body’s 17 commissioners – a group which sits with chairman Desmond Tutu and his deputy, Alec Boraine, on its executive committee – have refused to accept a proposal that they all take a lie- detector test.
The commission’s chief executive officer, Biki Minyuku, tabled suggestions at a recent meeting of the executive committee that employees undergo one of three levels of security clearance, depending on their seniority. Staff at the highest level will have to undergo a clearance that involves taking a polygraph test.
Tutu and Dumisani Ntsebeza, head of the commission’s investigative unit, agreed to the idea. But a substantial section of the executive was appalled at the notion that commissioners should be forced to show that, apart from uncovering the truth, they are capable of telling it.
At the time of going to press, Minyuku had not responded to requests for more information about the debate.