DA’s double standards under fire
Suspended MEC calls for fair treatment
THE DA has come under fire for its quick suspension of Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela while other members are also under close scrutiny over their qualifications.
This after Good Party secretary Brett Herron raised the alarm about the qualifications of chief whip Natasha Mazzone, MEC for human settlements Tertius Simmers, and Saldanha Bay mayor Marius Koen at the weekend.
Herron said according to unverified information from a source, Mazzone had allegedly edited her Wikipedia page to remove the word “advocate” from the qualifications in her biography, while Simmers allegedly lied in his LinkedIn profile about a degree in cost management and Koen regarding a degree from Stellenbosch University. In a statement on social media, Madikizela called for fair treatment.
“We must be frank here, this so-called ‘exposé’ has nothing to do with a noble act to correct the wrong, it has everything to do with Cape Town mayorship contest. This is what I go through every time I contest for a position in the party or in government … a degree was never a requirement in the positions I’ve occupied. I also hope people will not apply double standards, what is done on the left must also be done on the right.”
Herron said yesterday that the leaking of Madikizela’s false claim to a qualification came from within the DA.
On social media, Mazzone rubbished the claims and said she had always teased herself for only having her matric.
Simmers said: “I cannot speak for anything I did not post or claim. I have not earned a BCom or an MBA. I can speak to no other records than my CV, meticulously updated since 2011 to accurately reflect my career, and records of all candidate applications on the relevant DA platform since 2011, and my LinkedIn online profile.”
DA national spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said the allegation against Koen was proven untrue in 2019.