Sisulu tells DA to shut up
THE DA should “shut up” if it has nothing better to offer citizens.
This was the reaction of Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to a “slanderous” allegation by DA MP Makashule Gana that she was campaigning for the ANC at an official government event in Missionvale, Port Elizabeth, where Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Danny Jordaan was also in attendance.
Gana said he obtained picture evidence of people in ANC regalia at the event, where Sisulu handed out title deeds to residents.
Sisulu said she had noted “with concern” the allegation. She said she was in Nelson Mandela Bay with Jordaan executing her programme of handing out title deeds to the beneficiaries of the Breaking New Ground houses.
“If the Democratic Alliance has nothing to offer the people then they must just shut up because government has work to do in restoring the dignity of our people through handing over title deeds that have been denied to them by successive apartheid regimes,” said Sisulu.
It was not the first time the minister told the official opposition to “shut up” . Last year, after opposition MPs jeered at her for calling Mmusi Maimane a “hired native”, she also told DA members to shut up.
Sisulu said officials could not stop working because political parties were campaigning for the August 3 polls. “We cannot stop people from attending our events because of their political affiliation,” she said.
“I was in Soweto on Monday to engage with hostel dwellers of Mzimhlophe on housing issues. On the same day, I also met shortly with izinduna at the Dube Hostel. Our government is committed to engaging different communities and this should not be affected by the upcoming local government elections,” said Sisulu.
Gana said the DA would refer Sisulu to the public protector to investigate the abuse of state resources for party political campaigning.
“Photographic evidence from media houses depicts people in ANC regalia both attending and participating in an official Human Settlements Department event.”
He said this abuse of state resources “is expressly prohibited” by section 195(d) of the constitution. “The truth is the ANC has resorted to these exploitations because the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and other municipalities have seen through the ANC’s broken promises that are made only during election time,” said Gana.