Johannesburg – The reported return to Parliament of former sports minister, Goodenough “Zizi” Kodwa, who resigned under a cloud after he appeared in court on corruption charges, has sparked an outcry from ActionSA.
News24 reports that the former Sports, Arts and Culture minister Kodwa, will be sworn in as a member of Parliament later this week.
Kodwa and his businessman friend, Jehan McKay – a former EOH Holdings director – are facing corruption charges amounting to R1.7 million. They are both out on R30 000 bail each.
Accusations are that Kodwa accepted bribes from EOH Holdings between February 2014 and April 2015 when he was the national spokesperson for the African National Congress (ANC).
Commenting on the matter on Sunday, ActionSA said, “It condemns the shameful return of disgraced former Minister, Zizi Kodwa, who is reportedly set to be sworn in this coming Tuesday as an ANC Member of Parliament despite facing serious corruption charges for allegedly accepting a R1.7 million bribe”.
In a statement released by ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus Leader Athol Trollip, the party led by Herman Mashaba, said: “It is unthinkable that in any nation governed by the rule of law that an individual can simultaneously juggle courtroom appearances for breaking corruption laws while sitting in Parliament, shaping the country’s laws”.
ActionSA called on the ANC, “to for once, act in the interest of the integrity of Parliament and remove him as prospective MP, thereby ensuring that the former minister has ample time for his court appearances and saving the South African taxpayer from the insult of footing the bill for such a tainted individual”.
Kodwa and the ANC are yet to respond to the criticism.
Meanwhile, Parliament confirmed on Saturday that the oath of office will be administered to the 58 elected members of the MK Party, who were not available to be sworn in during the first sitting of the National Assembly on 14 June.
The MK MPs will be sworn in on Tuesday, (25 June 2024).
