ANC MP Dr Makhosi Khoza says she is still waiting for a response to complaints she has filed over recent threats to her and her family’s safety.
Khoza’s home address in Durban was distributed on social media last week by the ANC Youth League’s eThekwini region, City Press reported.
The league had called on its members to picket outside the house where the single mother’s children live and she had been advised to stay away “because harm was in my way if I were to do so”.
She told News24 on Monday that she had written to ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu about the new threats, but was still waiting for a response.
ANC acting caucus spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli on Monday said that Mthembu had received the latest complaint, and was looking into the matter.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete had yet to be made aware of the latest threats.
“We’ll await interaction between the speaker and the chairperson [Khoza] regarding the matter,” Moloto said.
“The speaker would obviously be appraised of the matter through such interaction and possibly pronounce. Therefore we’d rather not preempt such engagement at this stage.”
‘Amoral leader’
Khoza also received death threats in March after conducting an oversight visit in Mpumalanga, as chairperson of the portfolio committee on public service and administration.
She had been critical of the way a Mpumalanga-based hospital and its management had been running the institution.
She told News24 at the time that, as a politician, she was used to receiving threats, but was still concerned when they were threats to her life, rather than her job or reputation.
Khoza’s latest spat with the youth league in the region was sparked after she posted on Facebook last week that she could not, in good conscience, vote for an “amoral leader”, but would rather vote for the party’s survival.
“When truth decomposes, duplicity thrives. Admittedly, none of the MPs are directly elected,” her post read.
“My political moral conscience signature is the ANC Constitution, notably Rule 4.17. Please read it.
“I therefore cannot be expected to vote [for] an amoral leader whose behavioural practices liquidates the ANC at a speed faster than the spacecraft.”
‘Think ANC, not personalities’
eThekwini youth league members commented on the post, calling her disloyal and saying she should be sacked.
“Well done comrades! I understand you want me to be recalled or disciplined. My answer to that is towards the end of this free ANC moral conscience lecture,” she replied.
“Next step: read and debate the ANC Constitution Rule 4.17. Threats, intimidation, violence and intolerance are strictly forbidden. You are urged to advance your argument. Think ANC, not personalities.
“Should [you] wish to invite me to facilitate the session as your senior comrade, you are more than welcome.”
Khoza first went public with her views in April when she posted on Facebook about the “injudiciousness” of ANC leaders, saying the ANC’s “triumphant story has turned tragic in my lifetime”. – News24