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Cape Town – There is speculation among opposition members of the provincial legislature over whether or not the under-fire speaker Masizole Mnqasela will agree to a written request from the ANC.<\/p>\n
The official opposition in the legislature wants to call an urgent meeting of the multiparty leadership forum to address \u201crecent events\u201d.<\/p>\n
ANC caucus leader Cameron Dugmore has received acknowledgement of receipt of his letter from the speaker\u2019s office. Questions to Mnqasela\u2019s office about the meeting elicited no comment by the time of filing.<\/p>\n
Dugmore\u2019s letter said in part: \u201cAs these matters relate to the efficient operation of the Western Cape legislature, and the important functioning of such, I urge you to consider this request in the interest of good governance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to queries about whether the DA would attend such a meeting if it was called, party chief whip Lorraine Botha said: \u201cAs per my knowledge, no multiparty forum meeting has been called by the speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians questioned the provincial government\u2019s stability and asked: \u201cWhat can the ACDP do to assist with the stability of the government?\u201d<\/p>\n
With regards to the multiparty leadership forum, Christians said he would be happy to attend such a meeting, if it was called, as so far everything he knew about the matter had been gleaned from the media.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Good MPL Shaun August said the DA\u2019s move to investigate the speaker for alleged fraud and corruption relating to subsistence, travel and entertainment allowance claims had come as no surprise.<\/p>\n
He said the DA\u2019s 2018 congress resolutions brought forward the adoption of lifestyle audits on politicians and public servants and a minimum 15 year jail sentence should anyone be found guilty of abusing taxpayers\u2019 money. \u201cSpeaker Mnqasela, a senior politician in the DA, falls within the ambit of this promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
August however said that the action against the speaker made him wonder why the DA was \u201cfighting tooth and nail to protect councillor Nora Grose against damning evidence of alleged corruption of Covid-19 relief funds\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also wanted to know why the DA gave councillor Stag Cronj\u00e9 a slap on the wrist for embezzling R350 million of taxpayers\u2019 money and investing it in Old Mutual, but was happy to reveal alleged corruption by speaker Mnqasela. <\/p>\n
He said the premier must inform the people of the province about how long they have known about this alleged misconduct and give more information on the charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe must also tell taxpayers if their money will be used to fight internal DA political grandstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday Mnqasela said he had not been charged with anything and there was nothing that would warrant stepping aside from his post as speaker, however he was committed to cooperating with the investigation.<\/p>\n
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za<\/p>\n
Cape Argus<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cape Town – There is speculation among opposition members of the provincial legislature over whether or not the under-fire speaker Masizole Mnqasela will agree to a written request from the ANC. The official opposition in the legislature wants to call an urgent meeting of the multiparty leadership forum to address \u201crecent events\u201d. ANC caucus leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2475,11515,2938,12289,5517,8513,8036,12290],"class_list":{"0":"post-92419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","9":"tag-grows","10":"tag-meeting","11":"tag-multiparty","12":"tag-request","13":"tag-speaker","14":"tag-speculation","15":"tag-underfire"},"yoast_head":"\n