MK Party says arrests of its MP won't impact their positions in the legislature
Former Transnet executives Siyabonga Gama and Brian Molefe appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court in another case linked to the purchase of locomotives at the freight company in 2014.
Picture: AFP
CAPE TOWN - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party said that the arrests of two of its parliamentarians won’t impact their positions in the legislature.
Instead, it claims the National Prosecuting Authority said that its targeting black professionals associated with the party.
Former Transnet executives Siyabonga Gama and Brian Molefe appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court in another case linked to the purchase of locomotives at the freight company in 2014.
But the party is standing by the pair.
Siyabonga Gama and Brian Molefe were part of a group of controversial replacement appointments the MK Party made last August, after firing 18 members of Parliament (MPs) sworn in at the start of the new administration.
Molefe had already served a short stint as an African National Congress MP in 2017, after resigning as CEO of Eskom and then being reinstated.
On Monday, the MK Party’s Nhlamulo Ndlela said that from Molefe and Gama’s arrests, it appeared justice is not being applied equally.
“It is increasingly evident that when Umkhonto weSizwe Party holds institutions to account, particularly those captured or influenced by narrow political interests, there’s a troubling pattern of retaliation.”
The party also claimed that its president, Jacob Zuma, has not received fair treatment by the justice system.
“We trust that the legal process in these cases will be free from any political interference and will uphold the fundamental rights of the individuals, being Mr Gama and Mr Molefe.”
The accused, who also includes a former Transnet and Eskom CFO, Anoj Singh, have been granted bail of R50 000.