Cape Town - Outspoken ANC MP Makhosi Khoza has hit out at Police Minister Fikile Mbalula over his much-publicised view at the ANC’s planning conference that any of the party’s MPs who votes against President Jacob Zuma in the motion of no-confidence debate on August 8 is a “suicide bomber”.
She believes Mbalula was referring to her.
"I’m shocked that the honourable Mbalula should say something like this,” she said.
"It is highly irresponsible. My views on President Zuma are well known. I believe the president should step down. But that doesn’t make me a suicide bomber."
Khoza said she had written to the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, asking her to agree to a secret ballot in the motion of no confidence. She said Mbete had not deemed her correspondence worthy of a reply, yet it seems Mbalula knows about the letter, she says.
She said she would vote against Zuma - and accept the consequences. “We should be allowed to vote with our consciences.”
On Friday, in a media release, the Office of Parliamentary Chief Whip said: “The ANC and its parliamentary caucus has been on record that its stance on the upcoming motion of no confidence in President Zuma by the opposition in Parliament is that we will not vote with the opposition in favour of such a motion.
“Noting the above, ANC MP comrade Dr Makhosi Khoza has gone on a publicity spree in the past week stating that she will not toe the party line when voting in the upcoming motion in Parliament.
“Through her many interviews, she casts aspersions on ANC members of Parliament, saying that she doubts that ANC MPs have the necessary morality to make their own decisions.”
Khoza denied she had cast any aspersions on the morality of fellow MPs. “I would never do something like this.
"I have the highest regard for the people with whom I work in Parliament. But I do believe my views are not taken seriously and, certainly, issues around my safety have been ignored by the Speaker. I have no doubt my life is in danger because of the views I have been expressing,” she said.
Citing party discipline, the Office of the Chief Whip said Khoza should have informed its officials about her issues with leadership. "The fact that we find out about such through the media is very worrisome."
Responding to the view from the office that her actions amount to “extreme ill-discipline and should be acted upon by the organisation", Khoza said: “Then so be it. But I believe that I - and all public representatives - have a duty to the millions of people who voted for the parties we represent to stand for morality.”
In its media release, the Office of the Chief Whip added: “While we are aggrieved by her conduct, we again reiterate that nobody in our organisation or in the country has the right to vilify or threaten her and her family. The ANC and the police authorities must act against those who have threatened and intimidated her and her family.”