Zweli Mkhize says this will help the public to make up their own minds about the media questions and the agenda that he is convinced is being pursued against him.
DURBAN – Former minister of health and ANC presidential hopeful Dr Zweli Mkhize says he has decided to publicise all media questions that he believes have been sent to him with a “witch-hunt element”.
Mkhize says this will help the public to make up their own minds about the media questions and the agenda that he is convinced is being pursued against him.
On Saturday, Mkhize who is fighting to get the Digital Vibes tender report set aside by the Pretoria High Court, used the well-attended umgcagco (a Zulu wedding ceremony) ceremony of his son Dedani and his wife Sithokozile Mthembu to accept an endorsement from traditional leaders.
The ceremony was held at the gigantic home of the Mkhizes’ at Willowfountain township in Pietermaritzburg.
Among the many high-profile political figures who attended the ceremony were ANC NEC member Dakota Lekgoete; Verus Ngcamphalala, the regional secretary of the ANC in the far North region in KZN; and Phiwe Mhlongo, the newly elected Musa Dladla regional deputy chairperson.
Also in attendance was Mzi Thebolla, the mayor of Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg), who is also the chairperson of the Moses Mabhida (Umgungundlovu) region, Mkhize’s own region, and regional secretary Samora Ndlovu.
Siphiwe Blose, a member of the regional executive committee (REC) of the Zandile Gumede-led ANC in the eThekwini region also attended and spoke about Mkhize’s endorsement, claiming it has nationwide ANC support.
After he was endorsed, Mkhize spoke about his troubles with the law. He said the law must be allowed to take its natural course and he was open to being investigated.
However, he said it appears that there is a witch-hunt against him and some media houses are being used against him.
Furthermore, he said some of the questions that have been asked appear to be a pure witch-hunt and date to the early 90s; some relate to the political violence in Richmond which left hundreds of people dead and some displaced.
As a result of this, Mkhize said he will now take to Twitter to share the questions so that the public knows what he is going through.
“You see, there are many of these issues. I have since resolved that if I get these questions, I will find a public platform to post them so that you can all see them,” Mkhize said.
“We know that these questions always come up after some people have met politicians and other authorities who abuse their power. They then end up coming up with a lot of these things.”
Mkhize said all state agencies must investigate or do their jobs without being pressured or being interfered with.
“Now we are hearing all these things and it worries us. Despite that, I can assure you that we will heed calls from society to serve them and we will not be intimidated by what is happening, we have already seen a lot. If there is a case, it must be brought to court.”
