Can Gigaba survive?
ACT NOW: PRESSURE ON CYRIL TO GET RID OF MALUSI AFTER DAMNING REPORT
The public protector’s report tabled yesterday demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa takes stern action against under-fire home affairs minister after he lied under oath and violated the executive ethics code.
‘Government does not need a Cabinet member who is a joke of the country.’
Calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire his home affairs minister, Malusi Gigaba, are mounting with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) saying the president must act with speed to remove him.
The EFF was reacting to the report by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, which suggests Ramaphosa take appropriate action against Gigaba for violating the constitution, after he lied under oath over the Fireblade Aviation terminal saga. Mkhwebane said he also violated the Executive Ethics Code for telling the lie while under oath.
The minister was challenged by Fireblade, a company owned by the Oppenheimers, in 2016 for rejecting its application for a luxury terminal at OR Tambo International Airport, allegedly due to pressure from the Guptas. Gigaba allegedly initially approved it, but then rejected it.
The High Court in Pretoria found him to have lied under oath.
The public protector has the power to investigate any level of government or public entity for allegations of misconduct. This included abuse of power, maladministration, lawful enrichment or a breach of the ethics code.
EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi welcomed Mkhwebane’s finding on Gigaba. “We cannot think of a more appropriate action to take against anyone who lies under oath than removal from office. The EFF has long said that, like Zuma, Gigaba must no longer hold any public office, including being a MP.”
He said Gigaba had been unpatriotic and put national security at risk by affording a private terminal to Fireblade Aviation. “This is the same as Zuma who put national security under threat at Waterkloof Air Force Base, when he made it available for Guptas. He must be fired with immediate effect,” Ndlozi said.
Political analyst Susan Booysen said Gigaba simply carried too much baggage, having been implicated in close to half-a-dozen instances of unbecoming and unacceptable behaviour. “I don’t think there has been any case of a Cabinet member who accumulated so much baggage but still remained in his position as Gigaba does,” Booysen said.
She said the minister was not only involved in making his own mini porn video, he had a string of other shenanigans under his name, including allegedly facilitating a fast-tracked citizenship for the Guptas and using a government-issue credit card to pay for flowers for his girlfriend.
He also violated policy by bringing a large contingent of advisors, some with questionable backgrounds and at least one with links to the Guptas, to the Treasury when he was appointed minister of finance.
“All these things add up against him. As a Cabinet member one does not expose himself in this way. The government does not need a Cabinet member who is a joke of the country,” Booysen said.
Legal expert Sheena de Figueiredo said with a minister who lied under oath, the National Prosecuting Authority has the power to institute criminal proceedings against him.
“But the failure of the president to take any action does lead to some concern,” she said. –