Babalo Ndenze and Sapa
DEMOCRATIC Alliance MP and party spokeswoman Phumzile van Damme – whose South African citizenship has come under scrutiny – is the target of a smear campaign, according to members of her party.
Party insiders were reacting to reports that she may have misrepresented where she was born.
The Sunday Times reported that Van Damme was born in Manzini, Swaziland, in 1983, and that her mother, Lynette van Damme, was also born in Swaziland.
The report said Van Damme’s father, Elroy Mayisela, was also a Swazi national. This, according to the report, makes her ineligible to hold parliamentary office.
DA spokesman Marius Redelinghuys said it would be “dangerous for us to speculate about the motivation behind it and the timing”.
“There are two possible sources: One is on Phumzile’s mother’s side. She was involved with the ANC, but I don’t know what her present status of membership is… on the other hand there are people who were in the DA and friends with people who were friends with Phumzile. I wouldn’t rule that out,” Redelinghuys said.
He said there were people who had left the party and now worked in the media who could have been behind the story.
Redelinghuys said Van Damme’s recent personal investigation had revealed that her birth was registered at the Department of Home
Affairs in Pietermaritzburg in the mid-1990s.
“Van Damme is a South African citizen. Her status is protected by Section 20 of the constitution.
“She is entitled to South African citizenship regardless, through her biological father and grandparents. Van Damme and the DA will protect this status vigorously,” Redelinghuys said
He said the party would approach the Press Ombudsman.
One of Van Damme’s colleagues didn’t rule out that the source of the report could be from within the party.
“It can only be two things. It’s either people loyal to (former parliamentary leader) Lindiwe Mazibuko who are exposing her or it could be people from Helen’s (Zille) side. Because Phumzile has no portfolio, if she gets removed from parliament they will not lose anything,” said one party insider close to Zille.
“It could also be someone in Mmusi and Helen’s camp. I don’t think it was Lindiwe’s people,” said the insider.
Another party member who worked closely with both Van Damme and Mazibuko said the newly elected MP “was shocked like anyone” when approached about the matter.
“It sounds improbable, but there might be someone out to get her. Her mom was involved in the ANC in exile in Swaziland. It could very well be some of her (mother’s) friends? It was most definitely well orchestrated. It can’t be a coincidence that these guys landed on this piece of information,” said the member.
ANC parliamentary spokeman Moloto Mothapo said the DA had cut corners and in the process exposed a young African woman to unnecessary public humiliation.
The scrutiny on Van Damme’s personal life was unfair, intrusive and cruel, he said.
“The DA should take full responsibility for putting her in this situation by flouting processes in its bid to use young blacks as window dressers in its ranks. The DA does not have the interest of bright young black people except to exploit, humiliate and discard them, as they have done recently with Lindiwe Mazibuko,” said Mothapo.
Van Damme could not be reached for comment yesterday.