Khusela Diko, the suspended spokesperson of President Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced that she is appealing a Gauteng ANC Provincial Disciplinary Committee (PDC) decision against her.
According to the party’s provincial secretary Jacob Khawe, the PDC ruled that Diko must step aside from her role as a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) member until a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe is complete.
It also urged the Presidency to extend her leave. This follows its finding that Diko had failed to disclose her late husband’s business interests to the PEC.
The matter stems from the controversial personal protective equipment (PPE) contract awarded to Diko’s late husband, King Madzikane II Diko, by the Gauteng Department of Health last year. In December, the SIU Tribunal ruled that the contract was unlawful and set it aside.
‘Wholly irrational’ findings
In a statement issued by her lawyers on Wednesday, Khusela Diko said she had already written to the PDC, and copied the PEC, expressing her intention to challenge its findings.
“The PDC’s findings in this matter are wholly irrational and if left unchallenged, will set a devastating precedent according to which members would be expected to be conversant and to comply with rules that do not currently exist, which include a directive to disclose a spouse’s business interests to the Provincial Office Bearers of the ANC,” her lawyers wrote in the letter.
Diko therefore slammed Khawe’s “purported ignorance” of her decision to appeal as “regrettable” and “blatantly dishonest and nowhere near cogent.”
“It is our client’s assertion that there is no decision that has been taken by the PEC to accept and implement the findings of the PDC, particularly in light of the fact that our client has elected to exercise her constitutionally enshrined right to appeal/review the decision of the PDC,” her lawyers wrote.
The PEC had charged Diko with engaging in “unethical or immoral conduct which detracts from the values and integrity of the ANC” and behaving in a manner or making utterances that bring or have the potential of bringing the ANC into disrepute.
‘No evidence of misconduct’
According to her lawyers, the PDC’s media statement indicated that there was no evidence that Diko had engaged in misconduct or obtained any direct or indirect undue advantage or enrichment through her ANC or Presidency positions.
Its adverse findings were therefore based on her alleged failure to disclose her late husband’s business interests. However, she maintained that no such requirement exists in the ANC’s constitution.
“It was admitted by both the ANC witnesses as well as the PDC itself that no such rule or practice exists and therefore the ruling consists of nothing more than their own beliefs and opinions on what they think ’should’ have been done in the circumstances, which opinions do not amount to the Rules of the ANC,” she said.
In addition, she cited an SIU report released in February which did not find her guilty of engaging in any corruption.