ANC chief whip to become SA ambassador to Germany

02 March 2016 - 17:06 By Babalo Ndenze And Tmg Digital
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The African National Congress chief whip in Parliament‚ Stone Sizani‚ has resigned from Parliament with immediate effect‚ in order to take up a diplomatic posting.

He will replace German Ambassador Makhenkesi Stofile‚ who is retiring.

In January‚ Sizani said South Africa should enact the same law as in Germany where Holocaust denialists are jailed.

“Racists should be jailed‚” he told Sowetan’s political editor Moipone Malefane

Sizani‚ who spent nine years on Robben Island for fighting apartheid‚ said the people “who stole our land‚ built the economy for themselves and used black people to work for them still did not feel they owe us something”.

“That makes my blood boil. They do not understand the hate put into us. This notion that we must give them the other cheek is wrong and must come to an end.”

Sizani’s wife‚ Portia “Pankie” Sizani‚ was last month acquitted on five counts of money laundering in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court. But she will face her biggest legal challenge when she returns to court on June 26 to fight the bulk of the charges that still stand.

She is accused of defrauding the Eastern Cape Department of Education through the creation of “ghost” teachers. It is alleged that she laundered salaries through the bank accounts of some of the teachers before pocketing the cash.

Sizani was employed as coordinator of the department’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme at the provincial education department at the time of the alleged fraud. The ECD provides for the appointment of Grade R teachers.

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