DA refers Mapisa-Nqakula to Ethics Committee

23 May 2016

The DA notes the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s response yesterday to allegations that she abused state resources to smuggle a family friend from Burundi to South Africa.

Some of the comments she has made in her response to these allegations however are misleading, and she has also not addressed the fact that her sister, Nosithembele Nontobeko Mapisa, was even suspended from her post in the embassy in Burundi for her role in the case.

Minister Mapisa-Nqakula has misused her political standing to obtain favours from South African and international authorities and possibly violated her Oath of Office, Executive Members Ethics Act, the Immigration Act, and Defence Act in the process.

The DA will write to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interest and request that they investigate the Minister’s potential Executive Members Ethics Act and Code of Conduct violation(s) in relation to this matter. It must also not be forgotten that she, like her colleagues in Cabinet, is a Member of Parliament and is also subject to the rules and code of ethics that all MPs are enjoined by.

The Executive Members’ Ethics Act [No.82 of 1998], clearly prohibits Cabinet members, Deputy Ministers and MECs from:

(ii) acting in a way that is inconsistent with their office;

(iii) exposing themselves to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between their official  responsibilities and their private interests;

(iv) using their position or any information entrusted to them, to enrich themselves or  improperly benefit any other person: and

(v) acting in a way that may compromise the credibility or integrity of their office or of the  government.

We understand that the Minister may have been acting on compassionate grounds, however she cannot act as a law unto herself, and we reiterate our call for a full investigation of this incident. Failing to do so will set a precedent for members of the Executive to act outside the law and without impunity which is at odds with the provisions in our Constitution that prohibit such conduct.

On 3 August 2016 South Africans have the opportunity to vote for a DA government that prioritizes all the people of the nation and not the connect few who abuse state resources for personal reasons. 

Issued by Kobus Marais, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, 23 May 2016