Parliament - Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been handed another hot potato - to establish whether her former boss, State Security Minister David Mahlobo, lied to Parliament and broke the code of ethics.
His answers in the house on Wednesday went viral on social media after the EFF released a video mash-up juxtaposed with footage of him telling an Institute for Security Studies (ISS) panel on Monday that controversial #FeesMustFall leader Mcebo Dalmini’s arrest had not been politically motivated and that he knew the former Wits SRC chair so well that Dlamini had been to his home several times.
Just 48 hours later, he was denying everything to MPs.
Now the DA and the EFF want Mahlobo referred to Parliament’s ethics committee. Yesterday the DA lodged a complaint with the public protector.
Mahlobo’s week from hell began with reports in Sunday newspapers that he was linked to rhino horn smuggler Guan Jiang Guang.
A secretly recorded video by TV station Al Jazeera shows Guan boasting about being close to the intelligence minister, but Mahlobo has denied any connection.
However, Mahlobo has admitted to visiting a spa, apparently functioning as a massage parlour, owned by Guan, saying: “I like the service there, the ladies know what they are doing.”
The Hawks have confirmed they are investigating.
Mahlobo’s statements about meeting Dlamini have startled the student movement.
Dlamini went to ground on Friday.
Fellow #FeesMustFall leader Vuyani Pambo said that if the meeting had taken place, it would have undermined their bid for free, decolonised education. “ This minister has shown over the last couple of days with his denials that he cannot be trusted.”
Fellow student leader Fasiha Hassan agreed.
“I don’t know if that meeting happened or not, but it’s not as if we can trust that particular minister, “ Hassan said.
“David Mahlobo has shown that he does not take the plight of students seriously. He is the reason students are traumatised and we cannot write exams, because of the police brutality that has been inflicted on us. He is the same minister who claims to not know what’s going on. Whether that meeting happened or not, has become irrelevant. He is just trying to discredit the leader,” she added.
Civil rights activist group Right2Know has called for Mahlobo to be removed following this week’s row and the earlier revelations by Al Jazeera.
“The dangerous creep of State Security in democratic South African life has escalated under Mahlobo’s watch, and again showed itself in this week’s events,” the group said on Friday. “Right2Know is calling for the removal of the minister, but also for an investigation into the activities of the State Security Agency by the Inspector General of Intelligence - a position that has been vacant for 20 months,” spokesman Murray Hunter said.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said the minister’s inconsistency this week cast doubt on the legitimacy of the prosecution of students. In terms of the Executive Ethics Code, “members of the executive may not wilfully mislead the legislature to which they are accountable”.
Political Bureau and Saturday Star