Minister Mkhize must testify before Zondo about alleged PRASA kickbacks for ANC

9 November 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for the Zondo Commission of Inquiry to summon the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, to testify to allegations that he, in his capacity as former treasurer-general of the ANC, facilitated payments to the ANC from a beneficiary of the R3.5 billion PRASA contract where trains unsuitable for South Africa’s railways were purchased.

According to an investigation by Scorpio and Daily Maverick, former Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) boss Lucky Montana has claimed that Minister Mkhize nominated which bank accounts Maria Gomes, a beneficiary of the contract for the trains that were too big for our railways, had to pay money into for the benefit of the ANC. This apparently happened on a number occasions when the Minister visited Gomes’ home with Montana.

While Montana insists that he received assurances that these payments by Gomes and Swifambo director, Auswell Mashaba, were simply donations to the ANC and not kickbacks from the corrupt locomotive deal, it is imperative that these allegations be investigated thoroughly, especially since there seems to be financial records that indicate the opposite.

That South Africa is being bled dry is no longer a shock to anybody.

The extent of brazen involvement by Ministers and senior politicians within the ANC is however very upsetting. The economic crisis, the rampant hunger and hopelessness, the rising joblessness and growing crime rates can all be directly linked to State capture and the rotten core of the ANC that is increasingly being exposed.

After Covid corruption became so obvious that President Cyril Ramaphosa could no longer ignore it, he claimed to have drawn a "line in the sand" regarding corruption. If the President wants to be taken seriously at all, he must also ensure in this case that the necessary investigation is launched into the large-scale corruption in which his current Minister of Health was allegedly involved.

Unless the corrupt are held to account and suffer the consequences of their actions, South Africa will continue to sink beneath the tsunami of crime and the once-proud rainbow nation will be nothing more than an Atlantean-legend.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone,Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 9 November 2020