Western Cape speaker facing motion of no confidence from his own party

The wrangling between Western Cape legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela and his party, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) top brass has seemingly reached full circle, with the party proceeding with a motion of no confidence to remove him.

In May, the party suspended Mnqasela, pending on allegations of corruption and irregularities related to subsistence, travel and entertainment allowance claims, and handed documents containing whistleblowers’ accounts of these transgressions to the Hawks.

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The party was also enraged in June and threatened consequences after Mnqasela attended a conference of parliamentarians in Sierra Leone without permission.

Though on suspension from all party activities, he remained speaker and refused to step down, with the party now setting in motion processes to remove him from the position.

‘Unfortunate’

The party’s Caucus Leader in the Western Cape legislature Alan Winde conceded during a radio interview it was unfortunate for a party to seek to remove its own speaker.

He said it was the last thing any political party would want to do, but that he believed in the rule of law, due process, as well as in their Constitution.

Winde said it was also a difficult move as the speaker did not serve in his Cabinet, and only answered to the provincial parliament, of which he was in charge.

He said the allegations against Mnqasela in a form of a protected disclosure, that he had informed Mnqasela about the matters, and that if he was guilty he should resign.

ALSO READ: DA reports its Western Cape speaker to the Hawks for alleged fraud

Winde said he also told Mnqasela that if he felt he was innocent, this needs to be proven, and that he has had to hand these allegations to the police as required by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

“I also said I believe he should step aside whilst these are being investigated and he refused to do that, so I as the caucus leader then asked the party if we could have permission to remove him from his seat whilst the investigation happened,” he said.

Who is Masizole Mnqasela?

A former member of the ANC, Mnqasela was the DA’s MP from 2009 to 2014, and served as the party’s shadow minister of home affairs.

Between 2003 and 2004, he was the party’s ward 96 Branch Chairperson in the City of Cape Town, and in 2006 worked with Helen Zille to persuade the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) to join a political pact that saw the Democratic Alliance bagging the City of Cape Town through a multi-party coalition system.

In 2004, Mnqasela was amongst young people from 25 countries who participated in a forum on managing world conflicts, the protection of human rights, and advancing liberal principles in the people of the world in Germany

Mnqasela has served as a member of the party’s Provincial Council since 2004, and was sworn in as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on 21 May 2014.