Cape Town - Ahead of the DA’s Western Cape conference party provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela has dismissed as a smear campaign allegations that he plotted to assassinate Masizole Mnqasela, who is running for the same position.
Despite several attempts to get comment on the claims on Sunday, Mnqasela has yet to respond.
The two are set to go head-to-head for the party’s provincial top job when the DA holds its conference at the weekend.
When asked to comment, Madikizela said: “This man (Mnqasela) failed for almost a month to prove his allegations.”
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said the allegations were serious irrespective of whether they were true or false. “If they are false, someone is guilty of lying and defamation.
“If they are true, someone is guilty of an assassination plot.
“No organisation could simply leave this hanging without seeking a resolution,” Zille said.
Zille indicated that attempts by the DA’s presiding officer of the Western Cape Congress election, Annelie Lotriet, to get details of the allegations from Mnqasela had not been successful and that the DA’s Federal Legal Commission had been preparing a second report into the veracity of the allegations after its first probe could not establish their source.
“This report will be presented to me tomorrow (today) and it will go to the federal executive on the morning of November 17. The Fedex will consider its contents and recommendations, take its own decision on the recommendations, and refer all documentation to the presiding officers for a final determination in relation to the congress,” she said.
The DA is expected to announce the decision on Tuesday.
“I am determined to get to the bottom of this, so that these ANC tendencies do not enter our party,” Zille said.
ANC provincial opposition leader Cameron Dugmore said the party’s caucus was concerned over growing “hostility” within the DA top brass over the internal leadership battle.
“The ANC needs full disclosure from (Premier Allan) Winde about the content of the allegations and what steps he has taken to investigate them. The ANC wants to know whether government resources are being used to fight these leadership battles.
“This has the potential to destabilise the legislature and the provincial cabinet. We understand that it has now reached such serious levels where Mnqasela is not prepared to be present in any meeting where Madikizela is,” said Dugmore, adding that the provincial official opposition would be demanding that Winde explain his knowledge of the allegations made by Mnqasela and how they affected his administration.
Political Bureau