DA refers Minister Zwane to Ethics committee for deliberately misleading Parliament
28 June 2017
The DA has submitted formal complaints to Parliament’s Ethics Committee and the Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, against Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, for deliberately misleading Parliament. Zwane appears to have deliberately misrepresented information to Parliament when he recently stated, in a written Parliamentary reply, that his December 2015 trip to Dubai was organised and paid for by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).
However, the Public Protector’s State of Capture report found that Zwane had not used the ticket the DMR purchased for him to travel from Zurich to Dubai. The question is, how did Zwane get to Dubai?
Leaked Gupta emails list the Minister, along with Tony Gupta, as a passenger on a Gupta-sponsored flight that was cleared to fly to Dubai on 2 December 2015.
Based on the replies he submitted to Parliament, it appears that Zwane deliberately misled Parliament, which is a breach of Section 7 (a) and (b) of the Powers, Privilege and Immunities Act.
In addition to these allegations, Zwane has also seemingly mislead Parliament when he failed to satisfactorily answer a DA Parliamentary question regarding interaction with the Gupta family. In his response to the DA, Minister Zwane stated that he “has not met with any member, nor close associate of the Guptas”.
Yet, in the media, the Minister has been quoted saying, “Let me put the record straight: I met with them, I’ve engaged them”. Furthermore, the leaked Gupta emails show that the Minister was due to meet with Tony Gupta at the Guptas’ Saxonwold compound.
The DA has now referred this evidence to the Ethics Committee, as well as the Public Protector, to request that the Minister be investigated as a matter of urgency.
Misrepresenting information and deliberately misleading Parliament are serious offences and the Minister must be held to account.
It is clear that Zwane has been captured by the Guptas to further their corrupt interests. His trip to Dubai, in his official capacity, on a Gupta-sponsored flight, is just another example of how he has been placed in his position to loot our public coffers and steal from the poor.
The DA will ensure that every ANC Minister that has been captured and corrupted by the Guptas is brought to book and faces the full might of the law.
Issued by James Lorimer, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources, 28 June 2017
