DA Western Cape Provincial Congress to proceed as planned

20 November 2020

The Western Cape Provincial Congress will proceed as scheduled tomorrow with the election of all positions taking place as planned.

This was the decision of the Presiding Officers of the Congress this morning following a meeting of the DA’s Federal Executive last night.

The Federal Executive considered the third report of the Federal Legal Commission into one of the most serious allegations that has ever been made in the DA:  that one of the candidates for leadership had been involved in a planned “hit” against his opponent.

The Federal Legal Commission found the allegation to be totally untrue.

The source of the false rumour was a man, known only as Zizi, was eventually traced by our Federal Legal Commission, and deposed to an affidavit.

In it, Zizi states that, on 18 September, he observed a meeting taking place in a Cape Town restaurant, and overheard snippets of conversation, which led him to conclude that one of the candidates, Mr Bonginkosi Madikizela, may have been planning to harm the other candidate, Mr Masiole Mnqasela.

Zizi then informed Mr Mnqasela, accordingly who reported the matter to the VIP Protection unit, who initiated a further investigation.  Mr Madikizela learnt about this allegation against him when Crime Intelligence reported their investigation to the Premier, Mr Alan Winde.

However, the Federal Legal Commission has concluded, after a full investigation, that the “plot” meeting referred to by Zizi could not have taken place.  Zizi’s story, therefore, has no credibility.

The restaurant, at which Zizi alleges the meeting took place, has been closed since the start of lockdown and remains closed.  It was closed on 18 September.

Furthermore, Mr Madikizela has proof that he was in a virtual Cabinet meeting throughout this time in question on 18 September and nowhere near the restaurant in question.

The Federal Legal Commission, after rechecking the details of the allegation with Zizi, concluded that the alleged meeting did not take place and that the allegation is devoid of all truth.

Zizi’s motive for passing false information to Mnqasela remains unknown at this stage.  It is known that Zizi and Mnqasela are well acquainted, calling each other “nephew” and “uncle” respectively.  The police are investigating, and the DA has made available its information to the police.

The DA wishes to find out what Zizi’s motives were in passing on patently false information designed to damage the DA and its Congress.

The Federal Legal Commission admonished Mr Mnqasela for failure to adequately assess the information supplied to him before passing it on to the police and to the Premier, Mr Alan Winde.

The Federal Legal Commission admonished Mr Madikizela, for openly denying the allegation before it was in the public domain, thus disseminating it further.

Issued by Helen Zille, DA Chairperson of the Federal Council, 20 November 2020