With just a few hours to go before the DA's Western Cape elective congress, the gloves are off between the two main leadership candidates Bonginkosi Madikizela and Masizole Mnqasela over allegations of a murder plot.
The party cleared Madikizela, the current DA leader, on Friday over allegations that he paid known gang leaders as part of a plot to kill his opponent, Mnqasela.
Shortly after this, Madikizela released a scathing statement accusing Mnqasela of having “bought” the whistleblower, who goes by the name of Zizi, to lie as part of a smear campaign.
The DA, in its statement clearing Madikizela, had said the party's federal legal council had established that Mnqasela was related to Zizi.
“There are two possible reasons he shared that information with VIP protection: to get extra security for his own ego; not because his life is in danger. [And] secondly to defame me and create the perception in the delegates' minds that I’m this shady character in order to gain advantage over me at the congress,” said Madikizela.
“This is an act of desperation to win at all costs.”
He said he was challenging Mnqasela to set the record straight and either prove his allegations or admit he lied.
Madikizela said he was going to file a defamation lawsuit over the matter.
Mnqasela, at a press conference on Friday, stuck to his guns on the issue insisting that the probe into the matter, which started after he alerted the VIP protection unit, was separate to the process of whether the DA should be allowed to continue.
Clarifying his relationship with the whistleblower, he said Zizi merely shared a clan name with his mother.
Mnqasela said if Madikizela had any reason to challenge what he or the whistleblower said, he should follow the law.
“I am a member of parliament, I am a speaker of parliament and hence I had to deal with this matter the way I have dealt with it. Nobody is above the law,” said Mnqasela.
He said he had kept silent on the matter, not spoken to the media and only talked to the authorities about it.
“[The VIP Unit, after being sworn in as speaker] they said something, in the presence of my team here, on May 22: 'Please report anything that could put your life in danger, no matter how small or big that is ... and no matter where it comes from.' Now there seems to be a problem that the speaker reports something that has been brought to him,” said Mnqasela.
Asked about the threats of legal action, Mnqasela said Madikizela should follow the law as his legal representatives were ready to deal with the matter.
