Stick to facts on Mbaks

THE letter “Mbaks can run, not hide” (DD, October 17) by Siyanda Mhlongo of KwaDukuza refers.

The most preferred platform to engage with an honourable member of the legislature is parliament, but I guess Mr Mhlongo prefers letters to the editor.

Minister Fikile Mbalula has received the letter and, as a well-mannered person, he has a responsibility to reply and to clarify issues for the author of the letter.

On the matter of Dubai, Minister Mbalula issued a statement and clearly clarified that:

● He did not receive a sponsorship for the said private family trip; there were no gratuities or gifts received for the trip;

● In so far as members’ ethics are concerned, the minister has and had no direct conflict of interest arising from the trip;

● The minister’s family was and is responsible for the trip [using] the family financial resources.

I raise these issues as a reminder to Mr Mhlongo or to benefit him in case he never received the Ministry of Police’s statement.

I can only conclude that Mr Mhlongo is naughty and lazy about reading the many statements for the Ministry of Police, for which he is a portfolio member.

The matter of ex-Hawks’ boss Berning Mthandazo Ntlemeza was an issue of courts, and Minister Mbalula sought legal opinion concluding that the case was not winnable in court. Need I remind Mr Mhlongo that Minister Mbalula’s responsibility is to safeguard the state’s funds?

Mr Mhlongo does the unthinkable thing of accusing Minister Mbalula of being a Gupta lackey with no reference whatsoever to a single incident that justifies this absurd conclusion. In fact, the only reference he offers is the opposite – that Mbalula was the first one to oppose Gupta involvement in the cabinet. Sosa eyiphi komkhulu (which version do we take)?

I would have liked Mr Mhlongo to judge Mbalula on the work he has done in the police, not on some funny imaginations. — Vuyo Mhaga, Ministry of Police spokesman