The chairman of the Western Cape provincial legislature, Masizole Mnqasela, has criticized an impending vote of no confidence against him.
- The president of the Western Cape legislature, Masizole Mnqasela, says the motion of no confidence brought in him was a witch hunt.
- The prosecutor filed a motion of no confidence filed Friday morning amid allegations of fraud.
- Mnqasela has been locked up in a disciplinary hearing by the party’s Federal Legal Commission with DA top brass over extravagant spending allegations.
The president of the Western Cape legislature, Masizole Mnqasela, has spoken out following an impending vote of no confidence in him.
Mnqasela was adamant that he “loves his party and his blood is still royal blue” despite the prosecutor charging him with misconduct and suspending him from all party activities.
He briefed the media on Sunday, just a day after the motion of no confidence was filed Friday morning amid allegations of fraud.
“I think it was important to talk about this and what it means to me and the legislature. I’m a politician, so I’m not naive, and I have continued to dismiss these allegations as baseless and malicious, and it was a political witch hunt.”
Mnqasela added that the correct processes must be followed.
“I have been sitting in the disciplinary hearing of the Federal Law Commission [FLC], and when they told me while I was in the audience that the motion that intends to remove the speaker. For me, this is quite strange; Parliament itself has not responded to any complaints,” he said.
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Mnqasela has been locked up in a disciplinary hearing by the FLC with the party’s top brass over allegations of extravagant spending.
“I have not been found guilty of anything, and I refuse to sit back and allow the witch hunt against me to continue. More details will be announced soon.”
Mnqasela stressed that the process had caused damage to his family.
“This has tarnished my name and caused emotional stress to my family.”
The prosecutor unanimously decided to submit a vote of no confidence to dismiss him from his position in the legislature.
In May, whistleblowers handed over a mountain of evidence to Prime Minister Alan Winde, revealing Mnqasela’s travel and entertainment claims and apparent excessive spending while on official government business.
Mnqasela denied the allegations and, after being charged with misconduct, said a political agenda influenced the allegations against him.
Meanwhile, the legislature’s programming committee is expected to meet Tuesday to deliberate on the motion of no confidence in the speaker.
The last session of the year will take place on Thursday of next week.
