The DA’s Francois Rodgers has proven to be a thorn in the side of the KZN administration, writes Mayibongwe Maqhina.
Durban - When the DA’s Francois Rodgers debated the Agriculture Department budget in May, he told fellow members of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature that he was not at the institution on the invitation of the ANC.
“I am here today because of the 4 million DA voters. As a member of the official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal, I shall continue to serve the people of South Africa by holding the ruling party to account,” Rodgers said.
He also promised to hold up the constitution in spite of sustained “racist” attacks from the ANC, which he described as failing to understand the role of the opposition.
Last week he suffered vicious attacks not from the ANC, but from fellow opposition parties such as the IFP and EFF.
Rodgers was accused of grandstanding and cheap politicking at the expense of the king.
This was after he distributed the parliamentary replies to the media at the weekend and showed King Goodwill Zwelithini incurred about R2.8 million in chartered flights over the past two years.
Rodgers had called on Premier Senzo Mchunu to account to the legislature finance portfolio committee whether the flights were of benefit to KwaZulu-Natal.
He also called on the legislature to “establish terms of reference to the king’s roles and responsibilities to KZN and to interrogate the scale of benefits of the king”.
On Thursday, the Office of the Premier launched a fresh attack, questioning his interests in “leaking” the parliamentary questions.
It also questioned why he had not raised his concerns through legislature platforms.
The criticism was despite IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi saying in an opinion piece that there were contentious questions regarding the expenses incurred by the king which deserved interrogation.
“There must also be a place in this debate for the role the monarch plays in maintaining social unity, discipline and traditional values,” Buthelezi wrote.
Amid the flak he attracted, Rodgers insisted he was merely doing his oversight role when he questioned the costs involved in the king’s travels.
“We still respect and believe that the king has a role to play,” he told the Daily News.
“We are fully entitled to question the expenditure and whether there is value for the money spent.
“The role of the premier is to ensure there is proper financial control.”
The criticism that came the way of Rodgers came as no surprise. He traversed what many may regard as a “no-go area”.
Parties in KwaZulu-Natal have long taken a cautious or diplomatic line when commenting about the expenditure of the royal household.
Even his own party has been cautious about “disrespecting” the king, who is not only a cultural symbol but a powerful figure in his nation.
However, the stance of Rodgers on expenditure by the provincial government is not something new.
Rodgers, relatively unknown in provincial politics except in the DA, has proven to be a thorn in the side of the provincial administration with his probing questions since joining the legislature last year.
He also forced the Agriculture Department to allow him to view the forensic reports commissioned in the last term, after he made an application through the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
Rodgers had also exposed R1.2 billion worth of investigations by the provincial government over the past two years.
Oddly, the value of the investigations did not attract the same attention as the chartered flights, despite the huge amounts involved.
Asked about how he will handle issues into the future in the wake of the chartered flights issue, Rodgers said there would be nothing stopping his party from holding accountable those in positions of power, regardless of their standing in the community.
“We won’t stop doing our job. I will continue to ask tough questions,” he said.
He insisted that it did not make sense for the king to use expensive jets for his travel and that there was a need to look into whether taxpayers’ money was spent wisely.
“In 2013/14 the king had three trips but last year he had eight. We need to know whether there was value for money in those trips undertaken,” he insisted.
Rodgers said he could not understand why the king could not travel in business class on SAA flights.
“It could cost far less. We certainly are not undermining him when we ask those questions. We play our oversight role, but other parties are politicising it,” he said.
Rodgers also said that had he not brought the parliamentary replies to the public domain, he would not have done his job as a public representative.
“If I was not doing my job, I would not have received this kind of reaction. It means I pushed the right buttons.”
Sizwe Mchunu, DA caucus leader in the KZN legislature, described Rodgers as a hard-working individual who did not shoot from the hip.
“He is outspoken. He is not shy to put his views out.”
Mchunu said Rodgers, who served three terms as councillor, has been instrumental in growing the party in the Sisonke constituency where he served as chairman.
“Under his chairmanship, we grew DA support by almost 200% from three councillors to nine,” he said.
Daily News