Natasha Mazzone Eskom load shedding

Natasha Mazzone. Photo: Luke Daniel / thesouthafrican.com

SONA’s first casualty: Natasha Mazzone slams ANC’s committee chairs

Natasha Mazzone reckons Cyril Ramaphosa has been “slapped in the face” by the ANC’s choices for Parliamentary chairs. SONA’s kicked off already…

Natasha Mazzone Eskom load shedding

Natasha Mazzone. Photo: Luke Daniel / thesouthafrican.com

The DA have made their presence felt early doors during the second SONA of 2019. Already gracing the red carpet, senior members of the party have arrived ahead of schedule. One person who is in no mood to waste time is Natasha Mazzone, and she’s shared some very choice words for Cyril Ramaphosa and his party.

The ANC have been under the microscope for their picks of Parliamentary committee chairs this week. Amid rumours that Ace Magashule has managed to “capture” the party’s branches in the National Assembly, a slew of Jacob Zuma-era politicians managed to worm their way back into positions of power.

Natasha Mazzone lays into ANC committee chairs at SONA

The likes of Supra Mahumapelo and Faith Muthambi now preside over the ethical laws of Parliamentary behaviour. Given their track records – of running North West into the ground and mismanaging the ministry of communications respectively – it wasn’t exactly the sign of a “new dawn”, as so frequently promised by Cyril Ramaphosa.

Other figures, including Bongani Bongo, a member who was accused of bribery in Parliament’s inquiry into the capture of Eskom, Mosebenzi Zwane and Tina Joemat-Pettersson also featured in the nominations list.

“A slap in the face” for Cyril Ramaphosa

Natasha Mazzone had a brief chat with us about the situation ahead of SONA 2019. As well as stressing that everything is well within the ranks of the DA, she turned her attention to those across the divide in Parliament:

“It’s very difficult for the president to keep it all together because he’s surrounded by people who don’t want to see South Africa succeed. It’s a slap in the face that so many people implicated in state capture have been chosen as committee chairpersons.”

Natasha Mazzone

ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina has had to play the diplomat this week and reiterated that none of those aforementioned chairpersons have been charged for their actions, and remain innocent until proven guilty. With this being a democratic Parliament, surely the bar should be set a little higher.