DA wants Mashatile probed over diamond gift from Liebenberg, says rebuke, fine not enough
The party’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said the sanction by Parliament’s joint ethics committee was not harsh enough and the circumstances raised more questions about his relationship with diamond dealer, Louis Liebenberg.
FILE: Deputy President Paul Mashatile. Picture: @PresidencyZA/X
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) said that a parliamentary rebuke and a R10,000 fine for Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s failure to declare a diamond gift can’t be the end of the saga.
The party’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said the sanction by Parliament’s joint ethics committee was not harsh enough and the circumstances raised more questions about his relationship with diamond dealer, Louis Liebenberg.
Liebenberg and his wife are currently facing corruption charges related to dodgy investments.
On Thursday, Parliament’s joint ethics committee said it had rejected the deputy president’s excuses for not declaring a diamond gift from Liebenberg because he was waiting for its value to be determined first.
Michalakis, who laid the complaint, said that Mashatile must be probed about why he or his wife would have received gifts from Liebenberg and whether Mashatile returned the goodwill.
Michalakis said that Mashatile was also to still inform Parliament of the value of the diamond, which he said he’d since surrendered to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
"The DA will continue to ask these questions until we have all the answers. The public deserves a deputy president who is transparent in the declaration of his financial interests."
Michalakis also questioned why Mashatile previously failed to disclose ownership of a multi-million rand Cape Town property he had said belonged to his son-in-law, but which has been included in this year’s disclosures to Parliament.