The ANC step aside regulation has yet to force Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa, out of office after he was charged with corruption linked to accepting R1.7-million in bribes.
Kodwa is due to appear at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Ekurhuleni for the alleged crimes.
Kodwa’s matter has been known by the ANC leadership for many years, but despite the scandal he has been rewarded with senior posts.
The ANC 2017 elective conference passed a resolution that office bearers and public representatives implicated in serious crimes should step down from their positions until they are cleared by the courts.
This was to save the reputation of the ANC which had been publicly accused of tolerating corruption and protecting its members from prosecution.
The NPA is leading an investigation into software upgrade contracts worth more than R460- million awarded to EOH Holdings by the City of Johannesburg in 2016.
Kodwa is one of dozens of ANC leaders fingered for corruption by the Zondo Commission on State Capture which found that Kodwa benefitted from a number of financial transfers from former EOH Holdings director Jehan Mackay in 2014 and 2015.
Mackay, who was already paying for Kodwa’s luxury lifestyle allegedly made a R1.7-million payment to Kodwa and it is not clear what services Kodwa provided to the company.
At the time Kodwa was the deputy minister of state security and was later appointed to his current position despite the scandal.
“The commission accordingly recommends that the president consider the position of Mr Kodwa as deputy minister of state security. Having regard to the fact that Mr Kodwa appears to find himself in a position where he is beholden by Mr Jehan Mackay.
“Mr Kodwa is beholden by Mr Jehan Mackay, to whom he owes more than R1.7m. On his own version. This is a debt which he cannot immediately repay,” Justice Raymond Zondo said in the state capture report.
Kodwa is one of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s closest allies in the ANC and remains a member of the party’s national executive committee.
Even as the party removed leaders that were implicated in corruption from campaigning for it ahead of the 29 May elections, Kodwa was not removed despite objections from the party’s integrity committee.
Unlike former speaker of parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula who relinquished her position after being charged with receiving some R4-million in kickbacks, Kodwa has not resigned from any of his positions.
Pictured Above: ANC NEC member and Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa who is set to appear in court on charges of corruption.
Image Source: X
