Ramaphosa must act on Public Protector findings and fire Gigaba
31 October 2018
The DA welcomes the recommendation by the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, that President Cyril Ramaphosa take disciplinary action against Minister Malusi Gigaba for violating the Constitution and the Executive Ethics Code.
I lodged this complaint on 21 February 2018 not long after the Gauteng Division of the High Court found, in the matter of Fireblade Aviation (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Home Affairs, that “there is no escaping the conclusion that [Malusi Gigaba] has deliberately told untruths under oath.” The judgement further noted that he had “committed a breach of the Constitution so serious that I could characterise it as a violation.”
In finding that my allegations against Gigaba is substantiated, the Public Protector has instructed the President to take action within 14 days and has instructed the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, to refer him to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests within the same time period.
The DA has repeatedly called for Constitutional delinquent Gigaba to be sacked, yet inexplicably he has remained a fixture in the cabinets of both Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa. This is why we are challenging the President’s decision to appoint Gigaba to his Cabinet in court.
Ramaphosa’s retention of errand ministers and his failure to take action against them is further proof that the fundamental nature of the ANC has not changed since the recall of Jacob Zuma. The party remains an organisation whose leaders act with impunity because there is no genuine accountability.
We would like to remind the President that the findings of the Public Protector are binding unless challenged in court, and encourage him to finally put an end to Gigaba’s scandal-prone and frequently dishonest tenure.
Gigaba’s sacking will not rub out all his mistakes, but will finally bring to an end one of the most inglorious careers of any Cabinet minister.
Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 31 October 2018
