Minister Dr Naledi Pandor in bilateral talks with her counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr WANG Yi, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, People’s Republic of China, 24/06/2019 Photos: Katlholo Maifadi/DIRCO
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the immediate dismissal of South Africa’s Ambassador to Italy, Shirish Soni.
The DA’s shadow minister of international relations and cooperation, Darren Bergman, said ambassador Soni was being investigated for sexual harassment and lying about his qualification, among other acts of misconduct.
“Serious concerns had been raised about Soni while he was still employed at the South African Revenue Service. Therefore a mere recall is not good enough – the ambassador must be fired,” Bergman said in a statement on Monday.
Bergman added that the DA would pose questions to the minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor, as to whether Soni was properly cleared by security; why he was deployed while having serious allegations of misconduct to answer to; and why only a recall was issued and not a dismissal.
“Most importantly, as was seen with former Ambassador Koloane, friends of the ANC are being deployed to positions abroad and when found wanting, they are simply recalled without any punitive action taken against them. The DA calls on the minister to immediately stop the culture of Dirco appointments as token rewards to friends and cadres of the ANC.”
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