Cape Town — The Democratic Alliance (DA) have called on the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Busisiwe Mkhwebane to be referred to Parliament’s Ethics Committee for a violation of the Code of Ethics.
This comes after Mkhwebane’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) was dismissed. She took to X and made alleged racial comments about her ‘Indian persecutors’ where she blamed key figures such as Pravin Gordhan, and Judge Visvanathan Ponnan, who dismissed her appeal.
“My ongoing struggle has consistently involved key figures, predominantly of Indian descent, who have positioned themselves as my persecutors,” she said.
In a statement, the DA’s George Michalakis said the basis of its complaint was over Mkhwebane’s X post and explained the Code of Conduct requires all members of the National Assembly to abide by the Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution, the laws of the Republic and the integrity of Parliament.
It further bars members from using social media to:
- bring Parliament into disrepute when using, engaging in or communicating content on social media platforms;
- when addressing another Member or a member of the public on social media platforms must not use derogatory, racist or sexist language or content that is derogatory, racist, sexist; and
- when using social media platforms to promote hate speech.
❌ The DA will refer Busisiwe Mkhwebane to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The basis of the complaint is a social media post making derogatory, racist, and unsubstantiated accusations against individuals of Indian descent and parliamentary staff.https://t.co/rouDLJN5GX
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) October 5, 2024
The DA said it would submit an affidavit to the Registrar of Parliament requesting the Ethics Committee to investigate the matter and make a ruling to impose an appropriate sanction on Mkhwebane.
“The DA will not allow such remarks attacking the dignity of a particular race group, the individuals involved, and Parliament to go unchecked. In the meantime, we urge Mkhwebane to do introspection and consider whether her continuous failure to convince the courts of the merits of her legal action is not perhaps based on the fact that her tenure as Public Protector was riddled with unethical behaviour and gross misconduct that led to her impeachment by the National Assembly,” Michalakis concluded.
Parliament condemned Mkhwebane over her comments and since then, she has apologised for her comments and said it was not meant to be an issue of race.
“I clarified that matter. I don’t mean to cause any perception that I am attacking those legal advisers. They are hardworking, and at the end of the day, yes, I’m prepared to [apologise] if they think it’s like that,” she said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
