Former National Assembly speaker, Baleka Mbete has defended the current Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on the corruption allegations leveled against her.
She says those who accuse Mapisa-Nqakula do not have concrete evidence. Mbete says there is a vendetta to discredit the current National Assembly Speaker.
The Hawks raided Mapisa-Nqakula’s house, east of Johannesburg, amid allegations she took bribes while she was still the Defence Minister.
Speaking to the SABC on the sidelines of the Battle of the Cuito Cuanavle commemoration in Pretoria, Mbete has expressed her views on the matter.
“They violated her privacy and she allowed them to do so in calmness and dignity and I just think they should be ashamed of themselves. You must say what it is that you want a person to account for. Yes, sure there must be accountability but come and say what is it that you are looking for on the basis of what.”
‘Shocked’
Mbete has also expressed disappointment that senior African National Congress (ANC) leader and former party president, Jacob Zuma has decided to support and campaign for the Umkonto Wesizwe (MK) party ahead of the May 29th elections.
Mbete says she is shocked that Zuma could consider himself a leader of the ANC, a party that is more than a century old. She says Zuma cannot be a member of ANC and campaign for another party.
Mbete says Zuma has defined himself. “It is a disappointment for those who worked with him who thought we knew him but of course, he has now defined himself differently. I think South Africans must just be very sober in analysing what this means who this person is and what he represents.”
