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Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has found that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille should be held accountable by the provincial legislature for her comments suggesting that some aspects of colonialism were not bad.
Speaking at a media briefing held at her Pretoria office, Mkhwebane said her office had found that “the premier’s actions did not comply with what was expected from a person holding the office of premier of the province”.
Zille sparked anger in a tweet she posted in March 2017 in which she stated that for those claiming that the legacy of colonialism was only negative‚ they should “think of our independent judiciary‚ transport infrastructure‚ piped water”.
Mkhwebane said, after Zille’s tweets, an allegation was logged with her office in terms of the executive ethics code of conduct in July 2017 and her office had found that Zille was in violation of some sections of ethics code.
“Her tweet brought back a lot of pain and suffering to the victims of apartheid and colonialism in South Africa. She [Zille] celebrated the oppression, exploitation, racism and poverty which are the direct results of the legacy of colonialism,” said Mkhwebane.
The Public Protector found Zille as having “failed to act in good faith and in the best interest of good governance” and argued that “the premier’s actions did not comply with what was expected from a person holding the office of premier of the province”.
Although Zille had since apologised “to anyone who genuinely thought she was praising, defending or justifying colonialism” and vowed not to “do so again”, Mkhwebane said she had “failed to act in manner that is consistence with the integrity of her office, violated the principles of the Constitution and had divided the society on racial grounds”.
In light of these findings, Mkhwebane’s recommendation was that “the speaker of the Western Cape legislature must, within 30 days of the date of the report being made public, table the findings before the legislature for it to take appropriate action to hold the premier accountable”.
When a journalist enquired what Zille’s response to the findings was when the Public Protector made her aware of her findings, Mkhwebane said “in a response she sent to me, Zille said the Constitution afforded her freedom of expression and she had expressed that she had not done anything wrong”.
In another finding made public by Mkhwebane on Monday, the Public Protector recommended that the deputy speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature, Lehlogonolo Masoga, should pay back some of the R125 000 phone bill he racked up while on an official trip in the US in August 2014.
The Limpopo legislature had initially settled the huge bill but Mkhwebane said “the amount spent by the deputy speaker was unreasonably high compared with other members of the legislature who travelled with him during the same trip”.
City Press published a story in March 2015 revealing that Masoga had incurred a cellphone bill of R125 000, allegedly for watching pornographic material while on an official visit to the US.
Mkhwebane said Masoga had failed to exercise a high standard of professional ethics and to ensure that state resources were used efficiently.
She gave Masoga 60 working days to pay back the money.
Mkhwebane, who snubbed the Parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional services meeting last Wednesday, was expected to make her next appearance at the committee’s request on Wednesday.
