The Democratic Alliance DA has announced that it will lay criminal charges against Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.
This follows an ethics complaint the party laid against the Minister in Parliament earlier in June, as well as its Public Protector complaint.
The DA accuses Nkabane of misleading Parliament regarding her appointment of Sector Education and Training Authority SETA board chairpersons in May.
She later reversed the appointments following claims of political patronage linked to the African National Congress ANC. She subsequently told Parliaments portfolio committee on higher education and training that an independent panel had helped her during the selection process.
The DA argues that the panel was not independent because some of its members work in Nkabanes office and in her Department. The panels supposed chairperson, Advocate Terry Motau, also denied involvement.
DA to lay criminal charges against NkabaneThe DA said it would now lay criminal charges against the Minister on Tuesday 1 July at the Cape Town Central police station. The National Council of Provinces will debate her Departments budget vote later in the day.
While the President continues to take no action against ANC corruption in the National Executive, the DA will use every means we can to fight it, the party said in a statement on Monday.
DA Federal leader Helen Zille, accompanied by the partys deputy chief whip Baxolile Nodada and spokesperson Karabo Khakhau , will lay the charges.
The move comes after the DA announced over the weekend that it would not vote for Nkabane and Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelanes departmental budget votes.
This follows President Cyril Ramaphosas dismissal of the DAs Andrew Whitfield as a deputy minister last week, sparking an escalation of tensions in the government of national unity GNU.