Khoza questions whether being intolerant of bad leadership is ‘extreme ill-discipline’
ANC MP Makhosi Khoza has responded to ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu's labelling of her as "ill-disciplined" asking: "Is extreme ill-discipline to be intolerant of bad leadership and to uphold the Constitution?"
In a post titled "The day I confronted my liberation struggle credentials fatigue"‚ Khoza writes: "I'm accused of Extreme ill-discipline. Is it really ill-discipline or liberation struggle credentials' fatigue that keeps us imagining unity when we are clearly no longer pursuing the same mission?"
Khoza‚ who is chair of the portfolio committee of Public Service and Administration committee in Parliament‚ was admonished by Mthembu in a statement on Friday‚ for what he called her "extreme ill discipline".
The party has taken umbrage with her seeming refusal to toe the party line in a vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma‚ the fact that she gave media interviews on the sidelines of the ANC policy conference and her writing to Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete‚ requesting a secret ballot‚ citing numerous death threats against her as a reason.
In her Facebook post‚ Khoza says: "I do not wish to engage him (Mthembu) on what extreme ill-discipline means as I have doubt if it would be rational given the fact that his conclusions are based on misrepresentation of facts and comprehension of matters at hand out of the context."
She says that her choice to speak out has been motivated by her desire to save the country.
"When some of us speak out we are only trying to save South Africa from economic ruin. We are trying to act out of the norm in order to get South Africa back on its prosperous growth path for all its citizens and not just the politically connected few. "
"If I'm fired I'm taking my history with me. I'm taking the South African dream and that of Africa with me. I shall not leave Cde Nelson Mandela‚ O.R. Tambo‚ Charlotte Maxeke‚ Joe Slovo‚ Harry Gwala‚ Albertina Sisulu etc. behind. Their souls are in me. What they stood for remains relevant‚" she says.
She also addresses the issue of the media interviews saying she had steered clear of policy issues in the television interview because she was not mandated to speak on these issues.
However‚ she said‚ as a result of numerous threats on her life‚ and little action to provide her with any protection by Parliament or by her party‚ she had done the interview.
"Public awareness on my safety is the only protection I have. I also agreed because the Minister of Police‚ Fikile Mbalula‚ had made pronouncement that compromised my security and safety‚" she writes‚ referring to Mbalula's characterisation of those who vote against the president as "suicide bombers".
On the vote of no confidence‚ she says: "We are not defending ANC policies and noble mission we are defending a leader who may arguably be described as someone with a chronically impaired moral reflective capacity."