Cape Town - The “precautionary suspension” of the head of the Parliamentary Protection Services, Zelda Holtzman, and her deputy, Motlatsi Mokgatla, has less to do with the break-in at the EFF’s parliamentary office and more to do with a probe into reports that parliamentary secretary Gengezi Mgidlana is ferried about in a blue-light vehicle – as well as the recruitment of police officers to beef up the parliamentary protection services.
Holtzman and Mokgatla have been tight-lipped about their suspensions, but sources inside Parliament have told Weekend Argus that Holtzman and Mokgatla’s suspensions flow from an article published last month which reported that Mgidlana sometimes used a car fitted with blue lights to ferry his child.
The sources also claim that the suspensions may be related to the selection of protection staff.
“The suspension of the protection heads is directly related to a probe into the irregular use, by Mgidlana, of parliamentary protection services, and also relate to an incident where the official’s son was dropped off at school, after which a vehicle using a blue light was used to drive the secretary to work,” the source said.
It is understood that an information security audit was undertaken following the report, as was the investigation into the veracity of the claim by the EFF that its offices were burgled.
A statement by Parliament on the matter noted that the secretary had asked neither for the installation nor use of blue lights on the official vehicle he used from time to time.
“That report provides the detail, from the drivers of the vehicles, including the use of blue lights and driving at excessive speeds.”
Many of the subsequent events such as the suspension of Holtzman and her deputy flow from that, the source said.
In terms of parliament’s rules Mgidlana is not entitled to the parliamentary protection shuttling service, which is reserved for more senior officials.
Meanwhile, the EFF has called for the reinstatement of the protection heads.
The party maintains Holtzman and her deputy refused to be bullied.
In a statment, the party said: “Holtzman and Mokgatla have been put under suspension because they could not agree to integrating hand-picked SAPS members into parliament security without due process.
“In fact, they argued that existing parliamentary security is sufficient and that there is no need to hire more people, let alone the police.
“Parliament wanted them to integrate 25 members of the SAPS that were used to assault EFF members during the State of the Nation Address this year,” the EFF said on Friday.
Weekend Argus