DA puts forward Annelie Lotriet as candidate for Speaker – Mapisa-Nqakula grossly unfit for the position

19 August 2021

In today’s election of the Speaker of the National Assembly in Parliament, the DA will put forth our Parliamentary Caucus Chairperson, Dr Annelie Lotriet, as our candidate for the position.

Dr Lotriet has had years of experience as a member of Parliament and is currently a member serving on the Ethics Committee. She also serves on the Section 25 Ad-hoc Committee on land expropriation.

Dr Lotriet has also previously served exemplary as the DA Shadow Minister for Science and Technology, Higher Education and Training, as well as Arts and Culture.

Her years at the University of the Free State allowed for participation in key projects such as the training and management of the interpreting service at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the training of interpreters for all levels of government.

She has an appreciation for the processes of Parliament and will ensure that all aspects of the Constitutional and institutional mandate are upheld at all times. Dr Lotriet will be a dynamic and impartial Speaker who has a fantastic record in Parliament and is beyond reproach.

The ANC’s candidate, former Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, on the other hand is the least suitable candidate for the position. She has a litany of allegations of misconduct against her. Her years as Minister Defence and Military Veterans – a position she has finally and thankfully been fired from – has proven beyond reasonable doubt that she cannot be entrusted with the responsibility.

In her years as Minister she has done all in her power to disgrace South Africa and herself and she cannot be allowed to make a complete mockery of Parliament and the Constitution in the position as Speaker.

Mapisa-Nqakula is under investigation by a task team from Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defense for allegedly taking bribes to the tune of R5 million from defense contractors and spending R7 million on chartering luxury flights, receiving gifts of wigs and blowing money on luxurious hotels in Paris and New York.

How can she oversee the very institution that is investigating her for misconduct?

These allegations are only the start of her indiscretions – some of which toes the line of legality.

Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly used a South African Air Force jet to smuggle a woman who was romantically linked with her son from the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Africa.

She abused State resources by using anther Air Force jet to taxi her ANC colleagues to a meeting with ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe violating lockdown regulations.

She initially supported a whitewashed report by the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) into the untimely death of Collins Khosa which exonerated the soldiers responsible. After an overwhelming furore, she later retracted this support and claimed she was misled.

It was under Mapisa-Nqakula’s watch that SANDF wasted R215 million on an unregistered Covid-19 treatment drug known as ‘Interferon’ from Cuba without consultation with the Department of Health and other State departments.

Parliament has a clear decision to make today: either they choose a candidate that is beyond reproach, that will stand for impartiality, equality and fairness or an ANC cadre who has absolutely failed in her capacity as Minister and already taints the position as Speaker – if Mapisa-Nqakula were to be elected she would decide on the report on the investigation into her conduct would be processed by Parliament.

She would also get to preside over Parliament’s investigation into the SANDF, the Department of Defence and Military Veterans and other departments’ handling of the violence and looting that erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng after former President Jacob Zuma’s arrest for contempt of court. The very same incident that finally broke the camel’s back and led to her sacking.

Now we have to believe that this failure of a Minister should be promoted to Speaker. In what universe is she qualified for the job? Mapisa-Nqakula has continuously shown disdain for accountability, transparency and Parliament itself, but now she is meant to overlook the workings and proceedings of an institution she seems to abhor. What an absolute travesty. The ANC should hang its head for nominating such a shameful candidate.

The DA implores all parliamentarians across the political spectrum to vote for Dr Lotriet. She is a worthy candidate who will lead with honour and set a great example of accountability and transparency in Parliament. Under Mapisa-Nqakula South Africa’s Parliament will revert to a banana republic circus meant to rubber stamp every ludicrous policy the ANC can exploit to enrich their cadres.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 19 August 2021