admin
Cape Town — Public protector Thuli Madonsela has launched an investigation into whether the ANC has used state resources for its electoral campaign.
According to the Sunday Times, Madonsela’s office has confirmed that it is investigating three cases of alleged abuse of state resources that involve the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), the Department of Social Development and the Gauteng provincial government.
This comes after an outcry by opposition parties over the ANC’s penchant for handing out food parcels, blankets and toiletries at their election rallies as well as the issue of billboards in Gauteng that were paid for by the government but that carry the ANC colours.
However, Madonsela’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said that the public protector was conducting a preliminary investigation into the billboard issue and would contact the Independent Electoral Commission to see whether it was not the correct body to investigate this complaint.
Meanwhile, the legacy of President Jacob Zuma is contingent on how he deals with the issue of upgrades to his Nkandla homestead, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said at a march outside Parliament on Saturday.
“Mr President, how you are remembered in history, your legacy, is going to be determined by how you speak to the nation about how you made the decisions you have made,” Magoba said in a speech prepared for delivery at the march.
A number of religious leaders marched from District Six to Parliament both in celebration of twenty years of democracy and to raise concerns about the current state of affairs in the country.
Makgoba said that he wanted to believe Zuma “when he said that he didn’t rob our nation’s treasury. But if he didn’t, did he hold the stepladder? If he did, sadly he’s as guilty as the person who climbed through your window.”
He said Zuma needed to address South Africans on the matter urgently as there were “historic levels of distrust” towards the government. — AFP
Online Reporter