Mbalula told to fight crime, not his own MPs with lie-detector tests

Following a tweet from Police Minister Fikile Mbalula that lie-detector tests might be worth doing on MPs to ferret out who had voted against President Jacob Zuma in parliament, MP Derek Hanekom has told him to focus on his day job.

Mbalula tweeted on Wednesday that such tests would stop all the speculation and “peddling” of ANC MPs with the opposition: “Let’s all take a lie detector Who voted with the opposition in our ranks Izolo and STOP the peddling.Nice nje.”

He included a picture of a man being tested.

In response, Hanekom told Mbalula – who had earlier referred to MPs planning to vote against Zuma as “suicide bombers” – that he should rethink the strategy.

Hanekom retweeted a message from activist Zackie Achmat that “Minister you are violating your constitutional oath of office by suggesting that a Constitutional court order be broken,” in reference to the fact that the court had ruled the secrecy of MPs’ choices should be respected.

Hanekom then later tweeted the minister directly, telling him: “Rethink this cde Mbalula. Fight crime and corruption. Take a stand on Gupta looting. Who are you trying to please?”

He added: “Our organisation supported the secret ballot decision. Respect that!”

The DA subjected its municipal councillors to lie-detector tests in Mogale City after a secret ballot no-confidence vote saw their mayor, Michael Holenstein, removed from power. It’s unclear how successful that was, but the ANC was critical of the DA for doing the tests.

The efficacy of lie-detector tests is scientifically disputed. Although some investigators swear by them, their results are actually not foolproof and cannot be included as evidence in court.

Between 20 and 30 ANC MPs voted against Zuma on Tuesday. Only a small handful have been outspoken on why they did so, with the rest enjoying the cover of secrecy.

As a result, the split vote that kept Zuma in power was only 11 ballots.