By: Zahid Jadwat

ActionSA’s president, Herman Mashaba, has questioned the integrity of Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests after it cleared former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize of contravening the MPs’ code of ethics.

The Committee investigated Mkhize for his alleged role in the Digital Vibes scandal. The company was awarded a R150-million tender by the Department of Health in 2020.

In a report that implicated the minister, his former associates and his son, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found the tender to be unlawful. However, the Committee concluded that Mkhize could not be held liable for his son allegedly benefiting from the contract

In an interview on Radio Islam, Mashaba questioned whether the Committee members work to uphold the Constitution, or work in favour of their cronies.

“[It’s] a matter that is in the public domain – I’m sure children as young as five years old know about Dr Mkhize’s involvement… including himself being prepared to refund some of the money. So, I cannot understand how the Parliamentarians actually deliberate these matters,” he said.

“Are they there to cover their colleagues or are they there to uphold the Constitution of South Africa and respect the rule of law? These are Members of Parliament who are entrusted with the responsibility to uphold our Constitution and the laws of our country, but it appears to us as South Africans that we are treated as fools; that they are there to just really protect each other.”

As opposition Parliamentarians reacted with outrage over Mkize being let off the hook over a technicality, a subcommittee has been established to review the MPs’ code of ethics.

Meanwhile, ActionSA’s legal consultants want to look into the deliberations of the Committee and how it arrived at such a conclusion.

He said: “Our lawyers are looking to really see who are the people in this committee. They must make the deliberations available to us so that we [know] what informed them to come to this decision”.

Listen to the full interview here: