25 January 2012   

The IFP has called upon the leadership of the ANC to intervene and force the Premier of Gauteng, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane to drop the appeal against the court ruling handed down in 2011 which ordered her government to pay R9m to the family of a brain-damaged young boy.

The party said this in a statement issued today following ETV's coverage of the plight of the family of the 12-year old Prince Sibusiso Khanyi which struggles to care for him since he was brain-damaged when he was born in December 1999 at the Pholosong Hospital on the Far East Rand. In a statement issued after the news bulletin, IFP Deputy National Spokesperson Joshua Mazibuko said:

"The IFP finds it very strange and repugnant that it has taken the arrival of the sheriff to seize goods in the Gauteng Premier's Office for them to remember that they want to appeal the ruling that was handed down in February 2011. This conduct displays the worst form of insensitivity to the plight of the Khanyi family which, day-in and day-out, faces the struggles to care for their handicapped child.

"We call upon the leadership of the ANC to prevail upon Premier Mokonyane and force her to abide by the court ruling and pay the settlement without any delay. Hiding behind "an obligation to pursue and exhaust all avenues as this involves public money," does not wash away the sad fact that the 12-year old and his family are still struggling almost a year after the court ruling."

For Further Information:

M. Joshua Mazibuko, MPL

Deputy National Spokesperson      083 992 6135