MTSHALI DISMISSES NGUNI CATTLE LINK AS DEFAMATION

November 9, 2006

Dr Lionel Mtshali, leader of the IFP caucus in KwaZulu-Natal, has dismissed the media attempts to link his name with the province's Nguni Revitalisation Programme.

A number of provincial newspapers have named Dr Mtshali as a beneficiary of the programme without bothering to establish the facts.

"I have never accepted any cattle from the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. Claims to the contrary, wherever they come from, are lies," said Dr Mtshali.

An offer was made to Dr Mtshali by a senior official from Agriculture assigned to the Head of the Department at Kingsley on 24 October 2006.  It was curtly rejected.

"Having held government office as Minister of Education in the erstwhile KwaZulu Government, as national Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, and as KwaZulu-Natal Premier, I would not have fallen into the trap of accepting favours from a government department," said Dr Mtshali.

Dr Mtshali insists that the media or the government department in question must produce the relevant documentation or apologise unreservedly.

"I would like to register my disquiet about this obvious malafide. The media are feeding a story that has no life. If this is happening with the consent of the department, it is equal to gutter politics," said Dr Mtshali.

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902