Reprimand not good enough, Mapisa-Nqakula must be fired

27 September 2020

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite from Kobus Marais MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence

The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa fires the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula before the end of this week.

The President’s decision to merely reprimand the Minister for willfully overseeing the ANC’s abuse of an air force jet is simply not good enough.

This reprimand does not illustrate how serious President Ramaphosa is about the Minister’s dereliction of duty, it illustrates how weak he is in holding members of his party and his Executive to account.

The President has effectively downplayed this abuse of State resources by stating it was an “error of judgment” on the part of Minister Mapisa-Nqakula.

President Ramaphosa himself admitted that the Minister “did not act … in the best interest of good governance”; that she “failed to adhere to legal prescripts warranting care in use of [State] resources”; and that she “acted in a way that is inconsistent with [her] position”. These are damning findings against Minister Mapisa-Nqakula, and yet she only gets a slap on the wrist.

This smacks of how former President Jacob Zuma evaded accountability after the Nkandla scandal which was another blatant incident of the abuse of State resources.

We simply cannot allow that the Minister gets off scot free. The fact is that she willfully allowed the ANC to abuse public funds to illegally travel to Zimbabwe and back aboard the air force’s Falcon-900 aircraft.

This is also not the Minister’s first offence. She also stands accused of smuggling her late son, Chumani Nqakula’s Burudian girlfriend onboard an air force VVIP Jet.

The DA views these transgressions as a gross violation of her oath of office, a dereliction of duty and a complete disregard for ethical standards. Minister Mapisa-Nqakula must therefore be fired immediately.

Issued by Kobus Marais, DA Shadow Minister of Defence, 25 September 2020