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Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
- The district attorney wants the minutes of Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s meeting with her Zimbabwean counterpart during a visit.
- The district attorney believes the meeting was a ruse to allow ANC officials to travel to Harare.
- Mapisa-Nqakula said in a draft affidavit that she and the Zimbabwean minister parted ways with the ANC and Zanu-PF meeting and met for about two and a half hours.
The district attorney wants to see the minutes of the meeting between Defense and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and her Zimbabwean counterpart Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri during a visit last month.
Mapisa-Nqakula met with Muchinguri-Kashiri on September 9, just two days after he requested the meeting. This meeting took place on the same date as that of ANC officials and Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. ANC officials traveled with Mapisa-Nqakula aboard an SA Air Force Falcon 900 aircraft to Harare.
READ | ANC was slapped with a bill of R105,000 for Zim’s trip
The meeting between Mapisa-Nqakula and Muchinguri-Kashiri lasted about two and a half hours, while the meeting of the ANC and Zanu-PF lasted about nine, according to the draft of Mapisa-Nqakula’s affidavit to the Public Protector.
Accompanying Mapisa-Nqakula were the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, and civilians Ace Magashule, Nomvula Mokonyane, Tony Yengeni, Enoch Godongwana and Dakota Lekgoete, all high-ranking members of the ANC.
After a public outcry, last week the Presidency released Mapisa-Nqakula’s reports to President Cyril Ramaphosa and documentation related to the visit. The details in these documents paint a picture of a hastily organized official visit after the ANC resolved to meet with Zanu-PF.
Suspicion
DA deputy and defense spokesman Kobus Marais said in a statement Monday that Mapisa-Nqakula’s report to Ramaphosa “gives rise to suspicion that she is simply conspiring to conceal the abuse of state resources by the ANC behind of this meeting “.
He said Monday:
“We believe that the minutes of this meeting will reveal what we all suspect: that this meeting was nothing more than a ruse by the minister to hide the fact that the entire trip to Zimbabwe was solely in the service of ANC policy and had nothing to do with it. watch”. with government affairs. ”
“Nowhere in his report to the president does he comment on a meeting considered so urgent and critical that it could not be held on a virtual platform and had to break the rules of the Ministerial Manual that requires approval two weeks in advance.”
The Mapisa-Nqakula documents include a draft affidavit to the Public Defender, in which she states that the ANC delegation, which included her, met with Zanu-PF from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on September 9.
Meeting
She said that around 4:30 p.m., she and Muchinguri-Kashiri parted ways for their official meeting, which lasted until about 7:00 p.m. before they headed to a press conference on the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
He also attached a copy of a report by the Zimbabwean news outlet ZBC News on the briefing.
Timeline of Zim’s journey:
August 31: President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking after an ANC NEC meeting, says: “The Secretary General [of the ANC, Ace Magashule] the delegation that will go to Zimbabwe in days to meet with Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party will be finalizing. “
September 2: The Zimbabwe Chronicle news outlet reports a pending meeting between the ANC and Zanu-PF.
September 7: Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula requests a meeting in Harare on September 9 with her Zimbabwean counterpart Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri.
September 7: Muchinguri-Kashiri responds, agreeing to Mapisa-Nqakula’s request for the meeting.
September 7: Mapisa-Nqakula writes to Ramaphosa to request presidential approval for his visit to Harare.
September 8: Ramaphosa grants Mapisa-Nqakula “verbal approval” for the visit.
September 8: The ANC announces that a delegation is heading to Zimbabwe for a meeting with Zanu-PF.
September 8: An Air Force Falcon 900 aircraft departs Waterkloof Air Force Base at 6:25 p.m., with Mapisa-Nqakula, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, Ace Magashule, Tony Yengeni, Nomvula Mokonyane, Enoch Godongwana and Dakota Lekgoete on board. They arrive at Harare airport at 7:35 pm.
September 9: At 10:00, the ANC delegation, including Mapisa-Nqakula, meets with Zanu-PF officials. At 4:30 p.m. Mapisa-Nqakula separates for her official meeting with Muchinguri-Kashiri, which concludes at 7:00 p.m. The Falcon 900 departs Harare at 9:45 p.m. and lands in Waterkloof at 10:30 p.m.
September 10: The Presidency issues Mapisa-Nqakula with the written approval of its visit.
September 10: News breaks that ANC officials are flying to Harare aboard an Air Force plane.
September 11: Ramaphosa instructs Mapisa-Nqakula to provide him with a report on the matter within 48 hours.
September 13: Mapisa-Nqakula receives approval for self-quarantine.
September 22: Ramaphosa writes to Mapisa-Nqakula requesting more information. She answers the same with various documents, including a draft affidavit to the Public Protector.
September 26: In a statement late at night, the Presidency announces that Ramaphosa discovered that Mapisa-Nqakula made a “mistake in judgment” and reduced the salary for three months.
September 30: The Presidency publishes the documentation provided by Mapisa-Nqakula.
Marais said it seemed clear that the ANC wanted to visit Zimbabwe but was unable to do so due to its current financial constraints and later “decided that they are above the rules and regulations that govern normal South African citizens.”
“And instead of berating this blatant abuse of state resources and being adamant in the fight against corruption, as he promised to do again so recently, the president accepted the subterfuge because it is simply impossible that President Ramaphosa had no idea what the members of his party and the cabinet said they were up to the task. “
Ramaphosa reprimanded Mapisa-Nqakula and withdrew three months from her salary after he considered the reports and documentation and found that she had made a “mistake in judgment”.
This is not enough for Marais.
“Both should suffer the consequences of their actions. Neither has clean hands. The ANC who organized this abuse are just as guilty as those who participated and those who tried to cover it up. The ANC should return all the money for the escape, and not only a small percentage calculated by a minister who has already shown that she will put her party before her country ”.
Marais said that the Prosecutor’s Office would present parliamentary questions about the meeting and request the information through the Law on Promotion of Access to Information.
