Cape Town - The DA in the Western Cape has been accused of racist double standards in the way it has treated former speaker Masizole Mnqasela and deputy speaker Beverley Schäfer.
The accusation was made by ANC deputy chief whip Khalid Sayed in comments he made following the tabling of the provincial legislature’s conduct committee report.
The report contains findings of fruitless and wasteful expenditure by Schäfer. Similar charges levelled against Mnqasela led to his being asked to step down.
The committee fined Schäfer R17 800 and suspended her privileges as deputy speaker and her right to a seat in parliamentary debates or committees for a period of seven days.
This after investigating complaints that she refused to downgrade her luxury state-funded BMW X5 when her six-month stint as MEC ended in May 2019.
The forensic investigation report commissioned by the State Attorney also concluded that Schäfer was guilty of fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Sayed said: “The DA has handled the deputy speaker with kid-gloves but we know why. She is a favourite of the premier and because she is white.
“However, they reported Mnqasela’s alleged misdemeanours straight to the Hawks, instead of lodging a complaint with the conduct committee.”
He said the DA’s double standards along class and racial lines “continue unabated”.
Action SA provincial chairperson Michelle Wasserman said: “As to why the DA has failed to take similar action against Schäfer, as they did against Mnqasela, is a matter for the DA to clarify.”
DA interim provincial leader Tertuis Simmers said the legislature’s rules gave members a reasonable period in which to indicate if they would apply the committee’s findings and recommendations.
He said the DA would only comment once all the legislature’s processes had been concluded.
Meanwhile, conduct committee chairperson Wendy Kaizer-Philander (DA) has condemned the leaking of the report to the media as “sabotage".
She said the matter was still confidential and the leak would be urgently investigated as it was a risk to the committee’s integrity.
"It is quite clear that whoever is responsible for this leak is driving an agenda.”
Schäfer said: “I am studying the report and will respond in due course.”