President Cyril Ramaphosa’s finding that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, merely made an error of judgement in allowing an ANC delegation to travel to Zimbabwe on a military jet and the light penalty imposed on her for this so-called error are all just for show in an attempt to pacify the public.
The President ordered that Mapisa-Nqakula will forfeit her salary for the next three months and that the ANC must repay the full costs of the flight.
The FF Plus thinks that the punishment does not fit the crime of such a serious abuse of state resources. President Ramaphosa should have dismissed the Minister at once. That would have been the correct course of action.
The FF Plus has already filed a complaint with the Public Protector (PP) about this. The fact that a penalty, however inadequate, was imposed on Mapisa-Nqakula serves as an admission by the President that her conduct was indeed unacceptable and the FF Plus is eagerly awaiting the PP’s decision in this regard.
The PP’s finding and recommendations regarding the matter will have to be executed. If the PP decides, for example, that the Minister must be dismissed, the President will be obliged to do so.
The President failed to make use of a golden opportunity to show South Africa that he really is serious about eradicating corruption.
He was once again let the country down for the sake of the ANC. The actions he took and the light punishment he imposed are all just for show after the gross negligence of the Minister of Defence, which comes down to corruption.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Dr Pieter Groenewald on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
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