Supra Mahumapelo at a press conference at Luthuli House, 23 May 2018, where he announced that he would be going on early retirement, thus leaving his post as premier of the North West Province. Picture: Michel Bega
In a statement on Thursday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West said it had written to the Office of the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to investigate allegations that ousted premier Supra Mahumapelo, who is still ANC provincial chairman, was still allegedly enjoying government benefits reserved for a premier.
The DA’s North West leader, Joe McGluwa, alleged that Mahumapelo continued to benefit from official state vehicles and VIP protection.
“Those benefits should have been withdrawn the day he tendered his resignation.”
They alleged that the ANC believes that the “state is the ANC and that the ANC is the state”.
McGluwa said that, in the DA’s view, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa had also abused the public broadcaster to convey a party message this week about the outcomes of the ANC’s two-day lekgotla in Gauteng.
“It is in the DNA of the ANC to put the party above the people, the constitution and ethical leadership. Mahumaphleo is the chairperson of the ANC in North West and is not in service of the people.
“The people’s money should not be used to chauffeur and protect a man who actively collapsed the province, and used the people’s money to maintain a corrupt patronage network.
“The ANC is allowing him to enjoy benefits that he has no right to. Muhamaphelo, while no longer officially leading the North West, continues to undermine the people of the province who suffer due to unemployment, experiences of no service delivery and feel the pinch of corruption and poor governance.”
He said they would be writing to the speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature, Sussana Dantjie, “to immediately probe why the privileges reserved for a sitting premier are still being afforded to Mahumaphelo”.
Last year, it emerged that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma continued to receive VIP protection from the Presidential Protection Unit despite government previously stating that taxpayers would no longer be paying for the service after her term as the chairperson of the African Union ended in February.
At the time, she was not a state official.
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