The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the announcement by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, that a disciplinary committee found suspended Secretary of Parliament, Gengezi Mgidlana, guilty on four counts of serious misconduct. Parliament must now pick up its feet, and the pace, and move the matter through both houses of Parliament with great urgency.
The errant Mgidlana was first placed on suspension in June 2017, with quite serious charges leveled against him, including that he had improperly allocated study benefits, was frequently absent from work, and showered himself with luxury vehicles and five star accommodations at tax payers’ expense while living it up overseas.
Disciplinary proceedings against Mgidlana dragged on for more than two years, shrouded in great secrecy despite numerous appeals to Parliament by the DA to lift the veil and allow the committee on the Financial Management of Parliament insight into and oversight over the matter. All of this was at the cost of ordinary South Africans, whose taxes kept paying Mgidlana’s handsome salary throughout this period. A great concern of the DA had been that the Fifth Parliament will be disbanded before the matter had been concluded, which turned out to be the case.
The DA will now write to the Speaker to request that the matter be placed on the order paper of the National Assembly to be dealt with before the end of the year, so that the Sixth Parliament can finally put the era of Mgidlana behind us.
The DA will also request that Parliament as a matter of urgency look into steps to recover the wasted funds from Mgidlana, and carefully scrutinise the report – once it is tabled in Parliament – to determine the possibility of laying criminal charges against Mgidlana.
The DA will continue to fight hard to ensure that Parliament manages the public’s money in a responsible and transparent fashion, and that corrupt officials are dealt with in a zero tolerance manner.