“Operation Hlasela”‚ a campaign Free State Premier Ace Magashule launched in 2011 for the African National Congress’ election campaign and for service delivery‚ prejudiced other political parties‚ the Public Protector has found.
Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela on Thursday released two reports on investigations of complaints regarding alleged failure to separate state and party.
One report focused on alleged abuse of state resources to advance the ANC campaign for the 2011 local government elections in the Free State. The other one was on allegations of maladministration by the Social Development Department regarding the distribution of food parcels in Phillipi and Heinz Park in 2009.
According to Madonsela‚ members of the public and opposition parties complained about “Operation Hlasela”‚ which they claimed was used by Magashule to advance the ruling party’s election campaign.
While the campaign was initially launched to fast track service delivery‚ it was alleged that Magashule had used the same campaign for his party’s election campaign.
“Other political parties were prejudiced by Hlasela‚” Madonsela said in her findings.
“The allegation of conflation of party and state is substantiated.
“You can’t endorse any political party on a government platform‚” Madonsela said.
She said Magashule should ensure that a policy is developed setting out a clear separation of state and party activities.
