Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. being interviewed by the media. Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. Photo: Ayanda Ndamane / African News Agency (ANA)
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has stated it will be filing a submitting a complaint against the National Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga with the ethics committee.
This comes after the taxi strike turned violent in Cape Town resulting in arson, murder, and damage to infrastructure.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape called for a stay away on August 3 with immediate effect.
However, after numerous deliberations between the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, and Santaco, the stay-away was called off on Thursday, August 10 and taxi services resumed on Friday.
Chikunga accused the City of Cape Town of using the wrong by-laws to impound 6,000 taxis.
She called for the immediate release of the impounded taxis.
The DA’s Shadow Minister of Transport, Dr Chris Hunsinger said Chikunga openly sided with Santaco and the taxi operators.
“Her call for the immediate release of impounded taxis was framed under the false pretext of the City of Cape Town's amended traffic by-laws, an incorrect and misleading assertion. In fact, the impounding was executed in strict accordance with the National Land Transport Act (NLTA) and was entirely consistent with national legislation governing the industry.
“During the past week, the City demonstrated an unwavering commitment to commuter and citizen safety. It resisted the use of violence as a negotiating tactic, acted in the long-term interest of all involved, and refused to bow to pressure from Santaco or the Minister,” Hunsinger said.
He said Chikunga’s remarks reflect more than misjudgement and called it a calculated political move, a deliberate manipulation of the sensitive issue to benefit the African National Congress (ANC) in the upcoming elections.
“Such opportunistic behaviour was not just irresponsible and unethical; it constituted a clear violation of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members' Interests of Parliament.
“Given this grievous misconduct, the DA will submit an ethics complaint to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. Our submission will argue that Minister Chikunga's intentional dissemination of falsehoods not only violated the principles of the Code but also failed to uphold the law and undermined the very integrity of Parliament. This matter transcends mere politics; it touches on the core values of our democracy,” Hunsinger said.
He said the party will also be writing to the chairperson of the transport committee to, upon conclusion of the recess, ensure that Minister Chikunga appears before the committee and account for her unfounded and damaging claims.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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