FIRED former Western Cape speaker of parliament and ex-DA member Masizole Mnqasela has started a new political party.
Mnqasela held a press conference at Sky Hotel in Cape Town on Thursday, 22 June.
He told the press that he was approached by several organisations including church leaders, civic organisations, and community leaders to lead them.
Mnqasela said he's launching a political organisation that is set to contest in the 2024 general election countrywide.
Although Mnqasela announced his new party, he played his cards close to his chest as he did not reveal much.
He hinted that his party will focus mostly on tackling corruption and also fighting for free education, adding that the organisation's name and even the members will be announced during the launch in July 2023.
When he was asked if corruption allegations levelled against him will affect the new party, Mnqasela said the allegations were just a political ploy to kick him out of the DA.
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“The allegations were political. As I stand here today, it is more than a year since DA reported me to the Hawks, but I have never received even a call from the Hawks regarding these allegations. I have never been charged; I have never been called by anybody. The charges that were cooked by the DA was just a bunch of lies, a pile of rubbish,” said Mnqasela.
In July 2022, the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) recommended Mnqasela be charged for misconduct following his suspension in May of the same year. He was also accused of fraud and corruption relating to subsistence, travel and entertainment allowance which he allegedly claimed.
Mnqasela was eventually expelled from the party in November 2022 after he was accused of making bad remarks against the DA during a press conference.
After his expulsion, the DA’s federal chairwoman Helen Zille said Mnqasela was "in violation of the terms of the cease-and-desist letter sent to the speaker by the party's federal executive".
About his treatment by the DA, Mnqasela said they wanted to bury him, but it didn’t work.
“These allegations were meant to bury me alive, but God didn’t allow that to happen,” he said.
