Alleged assassination plot against Western Cape legislature speaker 'devoid of all truth'

Speaker of the Western Cape legislature Masizole Mnqasela. Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said: “The FLC found the allegation to be totally untrue.” Picture: Ayanda Ndamane African news agency/ANA

Speaker of the Western Cape legislature Masizole Mnqasela. Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said: “The FLC found the allegation to be totally untrue.” Picture: Ayanda Ndamane African news agency/ANA

Published Nov 20, 2020

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Cape Town – Just in time for the DA’s Western Cape Provincial Congress, an internal investigation has found the allegations of an assassination plot against the Speaker of the Western Cape legislature Masizole Mnqasela to be “devoid of all truth”.

The investigation by the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC), chaired by Glynnis Breytenbach, found the allegations of an assassination plot to be a rumour.

A meeting of the DA’s Federal Executive (FedEx) on Thursday night received and deliberated on the FLC’s report into the matter and on Friday morning the presiding officers of the congress decided the congress will proceed as scheduled on Saturday with the election of all positions taking place as planned.

Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said: “The FLC found the allegation to be totally untrue.

“The source of the false rumour, a man known only as Zizi, was eventually traced by our FLC, and deposed to an affidavit.

“Zizi’s motive for passing false information to Mnqasela remains unknown at this stage.

“It is known that Zizi and Speaker Mnqasela are well acquainted, calling each other ’nephew’ and ’uncle’, respectively.

“The police are investigating, and the DA has made available its information to the police,” said Zille.

“In his affidavit to the FLC, Zizi states that, on September 18, he observed a meeting taking place in a Cape Town restaurant, and overheard snippets of conversation, which led him to conclude that one of the candidates, Transport and Public Works MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, may have been planning to harm the other candidate, Speaker Mnqasela,” said Zille.

“Zizi then informed Mnqasela, accordingly who reported the matter to the VIP Protection unit, who initiated a further investigation.

“Madikizela learnt about this allegation against him when Crime Intelligence reported their investigation to Premier Alan Winde.

“However, the FLC has concluded, after a full investigation, that the ’plot’ meeting referred to by Zizi could not have taken place.

“Zizi’s story, therefore, has no credibility.

“The restaurant, at which Zizi alleges the meeting took place, has been closed since the start of lockdown and remains closed.

“Furthermore, Madikizela has proof that he was in a virtual Cabinet meeting throughout this time in question on September 18 and nowhere near the restaurant in question.

“After rechecking the details of the allegation with Zizi, the FLC concluded that the alleged meeting did not take place and that the allegation is devoid of all truth.”

On Wednesday, Winde’s spokesperson Bianca Capazorio said: “The premier has met with the police over the reported allegations of an assassination plot against the Speaker by Madikizela.

“The premier can confirm he was informed of the allegation by Speaker Mnqasela, and as a consequence of the nature of the allegations, met with the SAPS on the matter.

“He has urged Speaker Mnqasela to furnish the details of the whistle-blower directly to the SAPS so that they can fully investigate, and has asked Madikizela, who has denied all allegations, to co-operate.”

Meanwhile, Zille said the FLC admonished Mnqasela for failure to assess the information supplied to him before passing it on to the police and to Winde.

“The FLC has also admonished Madikizela, for openly denying the allegation before it was in the public domain, thus disseminating it further.

“The DA wishes to find out what Zizi’s motives were in passing on patently false information designed to damage the DA and its congress,” said Zille.

Cape Argus