Parliament, beer halls and crooks

GIVEN the racist, antiZuma media onslaught, no doubt manipulated by the CIA and other dark forces which have formed an unholy Faustian pact, sometimes the president’s profound statements go relatively unnoticed.

Replying to the deliberations about his State of the Nation Address, President Zuma reminded MPs: “Our people elect members every five years to represent them in Parliament and to fulfil the tasks outlined in the Constitution. The majority of Members of Parliament understand the serious responsibility they have been entrusted with, and conduct themselves in a manner that gives hope to South Africans.”

He expressed concern about the mayhem in Parliament, especially the “shocking and unbecoming behaviour which was displayed in this house again last Thursday by some members”, and appealed to MPs and political parties to use “democratic mechanisms to express themselves, within the bounds of decency and decorum”.

He argued: “As adults, we can disagree ideologically, but we should not lose track of the national interest.”

(A moot point is whether the national interests and that of the ruling ANC government are in sync).

Zuma lashed out at those MPs who “have decided to treat this august house like something worse than a beer hall. The conduct we saw in this house traumatised millions of South Africans”.

Of course, frequent patrons of watering holes would take umbrage at this comparison and argue that there was higher levels of dignity and collegiality in beer halls than in Parliament.

The ANC is certainly interested in nominating those with a close affinity with shebeens to Parliament.

On Friday, Parliament “acknowledged the nomination of Mr Brian Molefe to fill a vacancy on the North West list of ANC Members of Parliament, which is depleted”.

When Molefe was the chief executive of Eskom, the public protector’s State of Capture (SoC) Report referred to “persistent allegations regarding an alleged cosy relationship between Mr Brian Molefe and the Gupta family”.

According to the SoC Report, there were 58 telephone calls between Ajay Gupta and Molefe between August 2015 and March 2016 as well as contact with senior Oakbay managers, Nazeem Howa and Ronica Ragavan. According to cellphone records, between “5 August 2015 to 17 November 2015, Mr Molefe can be placed in the Saxonwold area on 19 occasions”.

This time period was important because “it dovetails with a controversial purchase by the Gupta family of Optimum coal mine. The Guptas reportedly financed this deal with about R600 million that was a prepayment by Eskom to Tegeta (a Gupta company) for coal”.

Molefe’s defence was that “my cellphone reflects that I was in Saxonwold 14 times... There’s a shebeen there, two streets away from the Gupta(s). I will not admit or deny that I’ve gone to the shebeen”.

No one has yet been able to trace his shebeen but cellphone co-ordinates suggest that it may be located in the Saxonwold compound.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Molefe’s appointment to Parliament, weekend press reports revealed that there was no vacancy and that he was not a member of the branch, which did not nominate him as MP. The City Press reported that ANC MP Abram Mudau was forced to resign from Parliament to create a vacancy for which Molefe could be nominated.

According EWN, former North West ANC deputy chairperson China Dodovu stated that Molefe was “not a member of the ANC in the North West, he never served in any structure of the ANC and he’s not even a resident of the North West province”.

According to the ANC leadership in North West, “comrade Brian is an ANC member in good standing of Ward 29 in Hartbeespoort in the Madibeng local municipality”.

“However, Ward 29 branch secretary, Christina Mululu, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know him (Molefe). He has never come for a meeting. We did not nominate him for Parliament”.

There is informed speculation that Molefe’s march to Parliament is part of Zuma’s grand plan for him to replace Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) contended that Molefe was “a highly compromised individual who should be cleared before being appointed to such a constitutionally important institution as Parliament… the scope for renewed efforts at state capture will be strengthened if Molefe is sworn in as a member of the National Assembly…”

Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem expressed trepidation about an imminent cabinet reshuffle, saying, “law abiding citizens can conclude that Parliament has become a safe haven for ANC crooks”.

John Steenhuisen, DA chief whip, said that Molefe’s appointment “only confirms, for the umpteenth time, that the ANC does not care about fighting corruption. In fact, it seems you are more likely to rise in the ANC ranks if you are accused of corruption… If the ANC were serious about fighting corruption they’d never have nominated Molefe”.

So while there may be no shebeens in Saxon-wold, expect more beer hall brawls in Parliament!

Brij Maharaj is a geography professor at UKZN. He writes in his

personal capacity.