Busi cracks whip on Mbaks, Zille
Public protector wants premier held accountable
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has found that Western Cape premier Helen Zille violated the executive ethics code by assisting her maths teacher son to loan tablets from the province’s education department, so that he could offer extra maths lessons to disadvantaged matric students.
The premier’s son, Paul Maree, was not paid for the extra maths lessons in Khayelitsha, a Cape Town township, and surrounding areas in 2014.
“The premier’s involvement in the process that has resulted in securing access to the tablets in question by her son, and in the acquiring of [her] son’s company’s services and resources, has exposed her to the risk of a conflict between her official responsibilities, as a first citizen of the province, and private interests, which involved her son,” she said.
“This conduct of the premier has consequently resulted in the violation of her constitutional obligation to avoid an exposure to the aforesaid risk.” The public protector said the rule of law had to be applied to every citizens, and that Zille’s conduct had given her son an “unfair advantage”.
Zille is understood to have denied that any such conflict of interest existed, as education officials were fully aware that Maree was her son and she had written an e-mail stating that the tablets should be made available to any NGOs or individuals seeking to offer extra maths training. Mkhwebane ordered that the speaker of the legislature “within 30 working days from the date of the report … take appropriate action to hold the premier accountable”.
The investigation originated from a complaint by Cameron Dugmore, the ANC’s candidate for the position of Western Cape premier. Dugmore initially alleged that Zille had advanced her son’s business interests with the procurement of tablets.
Zille said if she faced the same situation today, as she did in 2014, she would do exactly the same “because it was the right thing to do”.