DA to further probe Saldanha mayor’s qualifications

THE DA has confirmed that it has referred the matter regarding alleged discrepancies over the Saldanha Bay municipality mayor’s degree for investigation.

This comes after Good Party member Sammy Claassen in a press statement yesterday continued to question the legitimacy of mayor Marius Koen’s MBA he is said to have attained at the University of Hull in the UK.

DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said: “The Marius Koen matter has been referred to the Federal Legal Commission for investigation.”

The matter also comes on the back of former transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela having resigned from the DA after he was suspended for claiming he had a degree he did not have, resulting in a number of other party members, including chief whip Natasha Mazzone and MEC for Human Settlements Tertuis Simmers, being questioned about their qualifications.

At the weekend, Koen posted a video to Facebook responding to “continuous attacks” on what he had studied and where he had studied.

“I will not allow this onslaught to continue. It is quite clear it is the only strategy that certain individuals can follow. But let me place the facts on the table.

“In 1999 I was accepted to the University of Hull to the external programme in Masters of Business Administration with the focus on strategic marketing ... It is unacceptable the continuous personal attacks that I have been enduring for the past four-and-a-half years, and enough is enough. There is a fine line between playing politics and defamation of character,” said Koen.

Koen indicated he would consider legal action against those questioning his qualifications.

Attempts to get further comment from Koen were unsuccessful by deadline.

In a statement, Claassen wrote about the video Koen had posted.

“This video was misleading and tried to threaten those who seek truth, accountability and public scrutiny in the wake of the qualification scandal. The DA must take the people of Saldanha Bay and South Africa in confidence as the party launched an investigation into the qualifications scandal of Marius Koen. Two weeks have lapsed and still no proof of the much-anticipated MBA degree from the University of Hull.

“Koen released live video footage on Facebook where he produced a ‘letter of acceptance’ of the University of Hull. Did he try to fool the people with this video because a letter of acceptance is not an MBA degree. In that whole video the mayor fell short of providing or showing his ‘framed MBA degree’. In fact the video release was a big mistake as it exposes him and the DA to more public scrutiny, accountability, truth and double standards,” Claassen said.

Claassen further wrote that the party would consult national leadership “in order to lay criminal charges”, pressing for proof of Koen’s degree by tomorrow.