Last night during a media conference with opposition parties in the Gauteng Legislature, the FF Plus insisted that the Gauteng Premier, Mr David Makhura, must take action against the ANC Chief Whip, Mr Brian Hlongwa, by dismissing him at once and bringing charges against him.
The FF Plus MPL, Mr Philip van Staden, accused Makhura of having double standards if he wants to protect Hlongwa.
This transpired yesterday after the opposition parties tabled an urgent motion to have Hlongwa removed as a member of the Legislature in reaction to the Special Investigating Unit’s report on Hlongwa’s involvement in corrupt activities, which was released over the weekend.
In the report, Hlongwa is implicated in fraud and theft amounting to R1,2 billion while he served as MEC for the Gauteng Department of Health between 2006 and 2009. The FF Plus has the complete report in its possession.
During the debate on the motion as well as the media conference, the FF Plus made it very clear that it has a policy of zero tolerance for fraud, theft and corruption.
Van Staden said that if the Special Investigating Unit’s findings are false, as the ANC and Hlongwa claim, then Hlongwa must provide proof in public. If Hlongwa is unable to do so, he must do the honourable thing and resign as member of the Provincial Legislature.
Van Staden emphasised that the Gauteng Department of Health is a big mess and that there have already been cases of people dying in hospitals because the Department is not functioning properly. The Life Esidimeni tragedy was not the first nor the only incident and the FF Plus has numerous complaints about people who died as a result of negligence.
The FF Plus has already started preparing charges of murder, attempted murder and negligence against the Gauteng Premier, the former MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, and other officials of the Department. The FF Plus will now also formulate a charge against Hlongwa and all these charges will be submitted to the relevant authorities.
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