Makhosi Khoza: ANC punished MPs for doing their jobs
The commission of inquiry into state capture has heard how the African National Congress (ANC) disregarded the Constitution in order to protect former president Jacob Zuma.
Former ANC MP Makhosi Khoza appeared before the commission on Thursday.
Khoza left the ANC in 2017 after she was charged with bringing the party into disrepute and failing to follow party policies.
This was after she publicly criticised the party’s leadership on Facebook for failing to act against Zuma despite numerous allegations of corruption.
Khoza said it was difficult to conduct parliamentary oversight, as fellow ANC MPs would criticise her and others for merely doing their jobs.
She implicated former finance minister Des van Rooyen, stating that he told her not to question ”comrades”, after she questioned the South African Airways transformation plan presented by the airline's former board chairperson Dudu Myeni.
In August 2017, the eighth motion of no confidence was tabled against former President Jacob Zuma.
Twelve opposition parties got together and planned marches in support of that motion.
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Khoza said it was then that the ANC leaders started instructing the party's MPs not to vote with their conscience.
"On Thursdays, the ANC parliamentary caucus was often addressed by the then ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and Jessie Duarte. They were telling us that the party was under attack and we needed to defend it.
“We were told that an attack on the position of the president of the ANC is an attack on the organisation and some of us strongly disagreed. It was one man who was a liability to the ANC. We were then instructed to vote in favour of Zuma and that nobody would be allowed to vote in support of the motion," said Khoza
She added that Mantashe was quoted in the media stating that ANC MPs who vote with the opposition against Zuma would be committing the highest form of betrayal.
An emotional Khoza told the commission that she started receiving death threats when she publicly defied the ANC leadership.
"I always have difficulty when I get to this part. The threats were not just directed at me, they were directed at my children. I was stronger and didn't mind when the threats were directed at me, but my children were going through so much emotional pain."
She said one night she came home to find a strange man wearing a balaclava standing on her neighbour's driveway, pointing a gun at her. Fortunately, he slipped and she managed to get away.
Khoza said ANC MPs and officials who followed the Constitution and did their job diligently have been severely punished.
