Call for Kodwa to explain why he had gone back to Parliament

Independent Political Analyst, Goodenough Mashego, labels Zizi Kodwa’s stint in the National Legislature as optics.

He says Kodwa must tell the public why he returned to Parliament after being charged with corruption.

The former Sport, Arts and Culture Minister had returned as a lawmaker after having resigned last month from his positions in the ANC in the wake of the scandal.

He raised eyebrows when he returned to the National Legislature as part of the lawmakers who were taking their oath of office to serve in the seventh administration, with some saying the move somehow portrayed a sense of undermining the ANC’s policies.

Among those policies is the step-aside rule, which calls on office bearers to vacate their posts once charged by a court of law. It stems from the party’s so-called path to renewal, which seeks to rebuild the people’s trust in the liberation movement.

He, however, dropped another bombshell yesterday, when the party announced that he had quit with immediate effect as a Member of Parliament.

Mashego says the ANC is not serious about the renewal the party envisioned and the kind of cadre it wants.

“The ANC has tons of documents written about organisational renewal and the kind of cadre they want; those documents have been authored by different chairpersons like Gwede Mantashe and the likes of Kgalema Motlanthe,” he explains.

“The ANC never implemented any single one of those, the establishment of things such as the integrity committee, the step aside rule, as a result of the ANC talking about renewing itself. I doubt that the ANC is serious about renewal. People join the ANC for different reasons, some join it for the proximity to tenders, getting jobs, people are joining a gravy train, something that is moving.”

He says there’s a rhetoric of renewal, but the practicalities of it have not come to life.

Labour federation and ANC ally, Cosatu, was vocal about its unhappiness over Kodwa returning to the National Assembly.

Cosatu’s national spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says the move by the ANC sent a painfully worrying question to society about the party’s commitment to holding its public representatives accountable.

Sabela says Kodwa’s decision sends the right message to society – that the ANC has heard the voice of workers and is willing to act on its mistakes.

She also took a jab at the DA, saying they can learn from the ANC.

“Other parties would do well to learn from this progressive example and precedence, including the DA who continues to dilly dally and harbour an MP, Renaldo Gouws, who has been found calling for violence and spewing hate speech on social media.”

Kodwa is accused of accepting bribes totalling more than R1 million from the former EOH tech boss, Jehan Mackay.

The pair is currently out on R30 000 bail each and will return to court on the 22nd of next month.