EDITORIAL | Parliament cleared Mkhize but this is just the beginning

Disgraced former health minister Zweli Mkhize won a battle in parliament this week when its ethics committee cleared him of contravening the MPs’ code of ethics. He and his supporters — who are dreaming of defeating President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC’s elective conference in December — are probably in high spirits now. But their war is far from won, even if ANC MPs managed to sneak the clearance through on a technicality.

The joint committee on ethics and members’ interests on Monday concluded that Mkhize could not be held liable for his son allegedly benefiting from the Digital Vibes contract. This is the communications company that was irregularly awarded R150m under Mkhize’s watch. Digital Vibes was run by two close associates of Mkhize and was partly responsible for the health department’s Covid-19 media communications strategy. It’s the reason Mkhize is no longer health minister. It is also the reason the Special Investigating Unit is making an application to declare the Digital Vibes contract unlawful, have it set aside and the money paid back to the state. Incidentally, the Special Tribunal ruled that another five companies may be added to its application.

Mkhize won the ethics matter because MPs chose to focus on just one subsection of the code of ethics, which defines an immediate family member as “a member’s spouse, permanent companion or dependents”. The MPs then decided that in this matter, Mkhize could not be held liable for his son allegedly benefiting from the Digital Vibes contract because he was a married adult who was not financially dependent on him.

The ethics committee’s wide interpretation of the code of ethics on conflict of interest is unethical in itself. Opposition MPs described the decision as “disgusting” and “disappointing” and it is hard to disagree with that. But in the bigger picture, this is a meaningless win for Mkhize. The SIU aspects of the investigation against him were not included in the scope of the ethics committee. Prof Dirk Kotze of the University of SA in an interview with SABC said the ethics committee was dealing with grey areas open to interpretation while the law of SA is very clear on what constitutes criminal action. In his words, “this report by the ethics committee is not the last say on this matter”.

The SIU is continuing its efforts to recoup some of the money and has referred no fewer than 19 criminal matters related to Digital Vibes to the National Prosecuting Authority, whose boss Shamila Batohi this week warned that key corruption cases would soon be prosecuted. Hearings such as the one before the ethics committee this week should be seen for what they are: just another side show.