19 February 2008

The IFP views the speculation about the ANC's plan to sack Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) chairperson Jo-Ann Downs of the ACDP in the context of a slow erosion of the democratic institutions in KwaZulu Natal and South Africa.

"One would imagine that Mrs Downs's commitment to sound parliamentary oversight would be a recommendation. Instead, the chairperson is allegedly being targeted for replacement while scores of incompetent MECs and civil servants across the provincial government are being nurtured and rewarded by the ruling party," said Leader of the Official Opposition in KwaZulu Natal Dr Lionel Mtshali who also serves on the SCOPA.

The IFP draws a particular contrast between Mrs Downs's circumstances and those of former Head of Department at Agriculture, Dr Jabulani Mjwara's, who indirectly brought about her alleged downfall. "It took the ruling party two years and a devastating forensic investigation to replace the disgraced HOD. It has taken the ANC a lot shorter to realise that Mrs Downs was doing her job too well to risk any more high-profile revelations of the government's mismanagement," said Dr Mtshali.

The IFP sees the underhand attack on the SCOPA chairperson in the light of the ruling party's growing aggression towards independent thinking in a number of democratic institutions and in the media. "Mrs Downs's sacking, if it indeed happens, will be another chip in South Africa's democratic façade," said Dr Mtshali.

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902