Fikile Mbalula spills the tea on when his speech writer plagiarised an Oxfam article

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has reacted to a report about an Eastern Cape strategy document allegedly being plagiarised from a presentation made by the Australian government by sharing his own experience of allegedly being taken for a ride by a speech writer.

DispatchLIVE reported at the weekend that the 33-page “Provincial Digital Transformation Framework and Strategy Plan 2020-2025” document, signed by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and approved by the provincial cabinet, was copied almost word-for-word from a presentation made by the Australian government in 2015.

The report went viral on social media and drew reaction from several major politicians.

Among those was Mbalula, who said he knew the struggles of plagiarism all too well.

“Somebody once wrote a speech for me only to find that he took an article from Oxfam,” he explained.

Mbalula said he was left embarrassed when the media heard about the incident and the “speech writer” ran away.

When a follower pointed out that Mbalula probably should have checked the speech before delivering it, he said that he did all the checks and balances but still fell for it.

“Yes, you discuss the speech, you read the speech before delivery as well. And you finally think this guy is a gem kanti wayiiiiii fraud nje. You need to acknowledge the ideas of other people. Quote them, don't make them yours.”