The bucks stop here

The office of the public protector recently determined that bumbling advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane is not eligible for the R10m gratuity she says she is entitled to. Off to the courts she has gone, demanding the money. Although she is now a high-ranking EFF MP earning about R1.2m a year, she told the court she can “hardly make ends meet”. Old Hog would be happy to have her problem.

Double trouble?

I f Hogarth’s sources in the newsroom are right, the former public protector’s household may soon double the income it receives from parliament. The political scribes who know these things tell Hogarth that Mkhwebane’s partner, one Mazolman Skosana, is ranked high on the list of candidates seeking to enter parliament as representatives of Jacob Zuma’s MK Party. Having a couple working as MPs in the house would not be a first. But having them representing different parties? Hogarth hopes, for the couple’s own sake, that the Zuma-Juju tea party pact lasts.

A new oldest profession

I n the early 2020s, a new term entered our political lexicon. It was “crosstitute”, coined to refer to an MP defecting to a rival party without losing their seat. Hogarth could not help but recall this on Friday when it emerged that ActionSA has resolved to terminate the membership of its Limpopo chair and premier candidate, Letsiri Phaahla. Why? He had apparently been “offered considerable financial inducement” to join the MK Party. This is the same guy who was only appointed ActionSA Limpopo provincial chair and premier candidate in December. Indeed, money talks in our politics.