State capture suspects sworn in as MK party MPs

Former Transnet executives Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama were sworn in as MPs for Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, along with his longtime associate Mzwanele Manyi and former Prasa chief executive Lucky Montana.

Neither of the four were on the party’s list of candidates in the May elections, but are taking up seats that became vacant after the party ousted 15 members of the National Assembly earlier this month.

That purge continued a pattern of strife in the party that is now the official political opposition and sparked accusations of cronyism. Eight new MK party MPs in total took the oath on Wednesday, including Nompumelelo Gasa.

Molefe, Gama and Montana were implicated in state capture during the Zuma era by the Zondo commission of inquiry.

Molefe faces fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges stemming from the inflated tender to procure 1 064 locomotives to upgrade the logistics company’s ageing fleet.

The Zondo commission found that Molefe was at the centre of the Gupta brothers’ looting of Transnet coffers. He is due back in court along with former Transnet chief financial officer Anoj Singh in October.

Gama was reinstated at Transnet Freight Rail a week after Molefe was appointed, despite having been fired for serious irregularities the previous year. The Zondo report found that after his reinstatement, Gama was “centrally involved in key transactions that favoured the Gupta enterprise”. He also faces charges of corruption and money-laundering.

The commission held that Montana directed who should receive lucrative tenders while he headed the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa between 2010 and 2015.

Manyi, a one-time director-general of labour who has of late served as the spokesperson for Zuma’s eponymous foundation, became an MK party MP after defecting from the Economic Freedom Fighters.

Democratic Alliance chief whip George Mikalakis said the new MPs were an embarrassment to the legislature.

“These individuals are not suitable to hold positions in a parliament that should uphold the principles of democracy and accountability with integrity at its core. Their presence in this body serves as a clear indication of how deep-rooted corruption has seeped into our political framework.” 

Moreover, he said, those who voted for the MK party had not chosen them as representatives. 

“The MK party’s decision to amend their party lists, chopping and changing them at will, has undermined the very essence of democratic representation. 

“Voters were unaware that they would be represented by these individuals, as they were not included in the list initially presented to the electorate. This makes a mockery of our democratic process, where transparency and trust should be paramount.”