For the second week in a row, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament helped stop Luthuli House from “deploying” disgraced ANC cadre Zanele Hlatshwayo to capture the Public Service Commission (PSC). In terms of the Constitution, at least 201 members of the National Assembly need to vote in favour of a candidate to recommend them for appointment to the PSC. Last week, the ANC fell short by 33 votes. Despite what was doubtless a week of intense pressure from Ace Magashule at Luthuli House, today the ANC’s second effort to appoint this disgraced cadre again fell short by 26 votes.
The deep divide within the ANC over this disgraceful candidate is now holding the PSC hostage, and undermining its ability to do its crucial work of holding public servants accountable. The position of PSC commissioner has been vacant since 2 April 2019, and due to the escalating battle within the ANC, Parliament will not have another opportunity to fill the vacancy before February next year.
The DA reiterates our call that Hlatshwayo’s name must be immediately withdrawn as she is not independent nor fit and proper. Instead, we recommend the appointment of Kevin Malunga, the current Deputy Public Protector of the Republic who also applied for the PSC position. Unlike Hlatshwayo, Malunga is a distinguished public servant and not an ANC cadre.
From the very start of the process, the DA has warned that appointing Hlatshwayo would undermine the independence of the PSC, which is required by the Constitution to be “independent and impartial.” Hlatshwayo was reportedly 33rd on the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal list to become a Member of Parliament. In her CV, she boasts about being an active national working committee member of SANCO. This cadre also removed all doubt about her political bias when she stated during her interview that “I will never stop being political.”
She is also not a “fit and proper” person, as the Constitution demands. Hlatshwayo destroyed the Msunduzi municipality during her time as mayor between 2007 and 2010. She allegedly spent millions of Rands in taxpayer funds on her pet projects, including an extravagant trip to attend Barack Obama’s inauguration as president of the United States. After only three years, even the ANC had had enough and fired her. In the wake of hurricane Hlatshwayo, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government was forced to place Msunduzi under administration.
As a vital and independent constitutional organization, the PSC must not be captured by a disgraced cadre, and it must also not be held hostage by the ANC’s deepening internal political divides. After two successive defeats in Parliament, it is clear that cadre Hlatshwayo does not have the confidence of the representatives of the South African people. It is high time to withdraw Hlatshwayo’s recommendation and instead recommend Kevin Malunga.