OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nelspruit | Thursday 8.45pm.
THE ANC has accused Public Protector Selby Baqwa of violating his powers, wasting tax money and acting subjectively during his probe into Mpumalanga’s “lies scandal”.
Accusing Baqwa of acting without a mandate and of dangerously undermining the credibility of his office, ANC speaker after speaker rose to reject the public protector’s call for strong remedial action against Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu.
Baqwa ruled last month that Mahlangu brought the government into disrepute by publicly saying it was acceptable for politicians to lie in certain circumstances. The report noted that Mahlangu was unable to explain away his comments and found the remarks unbecoming and inconsistent with a leader of Mahlangu’s status. Baqwa recommended that the issue be debated by Mpumalanga’s legislature and that the province should at the very least issue a strong public reprimand or censure against Mahlangu.
The ANC led legislature rejected the recommendation and instead voted 18 to four to “put the matter to rest for once and all” and accept Mahlangu’s earlier apology to the ANC and public.
Senior ANC leaders then repeatedly attacked both Baqwa’s report and the public protector himself. “The real question here is whether Baqwa violated his powers. It is obvious that he reacted spontaneously before he had the facts. This is very dangerous for a person such as the public protector,” said ANC legislature member Lassy Chiwayo. “Both our party and the taxpayer are the victims of [his] spontaneous reactions. We need to seriously consider whether [Baqwa’s] actions were in order.”
Mahlangu’s defence was, however, led by his most outspoken cabinet appointment, public works, transport, safety and security MEC Steve Mabona, who said Baqwa’s probe and subsequent report were viewed by many as a waste of tax money. Mabona insisted Mahlangu had in fact done nothing wrong and was quoted out of context by a sensationalist and antagonistic media, which had deliberately distorted the premier’s remarks. He added that Mahlangu apologised voluntarily despite being aware he had been misrepresented but had still been crucified by narrow minded and racist opposition politicians who “confused moral fever with political realism”. Mabona also questioned Baqwa’s decision to investigate Mahlangu on his own initiative and repeatedly pointed out that the public protector initially attempted to use an uncompleted piece of legislature as the basis for his probe.–African Eye News Service