Protest in Saldanha Bay calls for mayor Marius Koen’s qualifications
IN HOLDING the DA “accountable for uncertainty and public scrutiny” about the qualification scandal of Saldanha Bay mayor Marius Koen, Good Party members are expected to protest at the municipal offices today.
The protest, dubbed the Waar’s jou pampiere (where are your papers?) toyi toyi, comes as part of a continued probe into the legitimacy of Koen’s MBA qualification he is said to have achieved at Hull University in 1999.
Good Party member Sammy Claassen said the confidence in the mayor is “at an all-time low due to the fact that the mayor officially claimed these qualifications but failed to produce or present these qualifications in council or in public”.
“Good believes and values the principles of accountability, public scrutiny for public servants, truth, trust and transparency. We want the truth and we want closure. The DA must come clean and should not sweep the moment of truth under its blue carpets. Where are the qualifications of Koen?
“The Speaker of any municipality has had a constitutional legal obligation to investigate and uphold the code of conduct of councillors and should be reminded that it is a criminal offence punishable with a five-year jail sentence if you fake, lie or misrepresent your qualifications. The investigations by the DA and the Speaker should have been concluded after more than a month of this scandal being exposed in public,” said Claassen.
DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said the matter remained under investigation with the Federal Legal Commission (FLC).
“All issues around the qualifications of our public representatives have been referred to the FLC and it is still busy with the matter,” said Gwarube.
She said the outcome of the investigation would be made public once finalised.
Hull University’s press officer, Phil Winter, could not assist with establishing the legitimacy of Koen’s qualifications when approached.
“Unfortunately, as a university, we would not comment on any individual who is either a current or former student at Hull.
“We would not be able to confirm whether an individual has studied at the university in the past, or is currently studying with us. I’m sorry we are not able to help on this occasion,” said Winter.
Koen did not respond to questions by deadline.