ANC MP Makhosi Khoza has rejected an offer of protection services by Parliament, saying she cannot expect her "executioner" and those who had themselves placed her in heightened danger, to ensure her safety.
"I am being persecuted because I can no longer tow the party line. I cannot accept corruption, looting, a disregard for the people who brought us to power and the propping up of a growing kleptocracy," Khoza said in a statement earlier today.
Khoza has been the subject of threats and intimidation for nearly three months since she started speaking out on the state of the ANC and its president, Jacob Zuma.
"My statements in the recent past simply mirror those which millions of South Africans have been saying; they have had enough. To side with the ANC of today requires me to disregard my moral fibre."
"It is within this context that I have chosen not to accept the police protection finally offered to me by Parliament and the SAPS. These issues are all interrelated. I cannot expect my executioner to plead mercy for me."
National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete and National Council of Provinces chairwoman Thandi Modise on 17 July agreed to work with the police to provide security for Khoza. They reached the decision after receiving a security assessment, spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said. Police compiled the assessment after Khoza began receiving threats in April following her oversight work as chairwoman of the Public Service and Administration Portfolio Committee.
The committee inspected a hospital in Mpumalanga and was scathing about the institution's functioning.
She received more death threats for being critical of President Jacob Zuma in a post on social media. Khoza posted screen grabs of the threatening texts on her Facebook page on July 16. They said she had 21 days to live. She claimed at a public debate on Tuesday 11 July that her daughter, too, had received death threats from the same people.
In her statement earlier today, Khoza said: "Earlier today I received formal notification of disciplinary charges the ANC in KwaZulu Natal has chosen to level against me. This morning Comrade Ravi Pillay telephoned me to inform me that the disciplinary hearing will take place on 10 September. I am consulting my attorney on this matter. In the recent past several senior ANC officials, including members of parliament, have publicly raised their concerns regarding our president. No action has been taken against those individuals. The ANC will need to explain why I am being singled out.
"As a lifelong and loyal member of the ANC, I respect the processes of the organisation and I will attend the disciplinary hearing as required.
"I do, however, have significant reservations as to the fairness I can expect of the process, considering senior leaders within the ANC have publicly called for my dismissal. The ANC’s constitution, upon which the disciplinary processes are built, was developed to guide the ANC I joined when I was 12 years-old. That was the ANC where members were required to truly live the values and principles of our organisation," Khoza said.
"That was the ANC that valued selfless dedication in the struggle for a democratic South Africa and a genuine concern for the will of the people... Our current leadership is not putting the people first. Our current leadership does not live the values of our organisation, yet they choose to selectively apply sections of our organisation’s constitution to quell any voices of discontent.
"I am being persecuted because I can no longer toe the party line. I cannot accept corruption, looting, a disregard for the people who brought us to power and the propping up of a growing Kleptocracy," she said.
"I
am no longer willing to be an apologist for an organisation and a leader
that has lost its way. It is within this context that I have chosen not
to accept the police protection that was finally offered to me by
Parliament and the SAPS."
Khoza said she had first asked for protection months ago but was refused. She had now taken action and sourced her own protection services. "It was only when the matter was recently thrust into the public domain by media reports that were services were suddenly offered," she said.
"After much consideration, it is clear to me that I cannot accept protection from the same people that have been so reckless in their behaviour and who themselves have placed me in heightened danger."
