DA wants probe into how Zukisa Faku became MP with fraud convictions

The DA has called for former Buffalo City mayor Zukisa Faku to be investigated after she resigned as an MP last week.

The party said on Wednesday that parliament needs to explain how Faku was elected as an ANC MP despite having fraud convictions to her name.

According to a DispatchLIVE report, Faku was found guilty of fraud relating to her use of an official credit card when she was mayor of Buffalo City, and had been serving her fraud sentence while holding on to her MP seat.

She was convicted on nine counts of fraud.

In a statement, DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said: "Should it turn out that Ms Faku was never eligible for election, parliament should conduct an urgent review to establish where and how their internal vetting systems failed to pick this up.

"Parliament would then also be obligated to recover the money and benefits Ms Faku received while masquerading as a lawful member of parliament."

Steenhuisen said that for Faku to get a seat at parliament she had to sign a nomination acceptance form from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declaring that she was not disqualified from standing for the elections in terms of any applicable legislation.

"If she was in fact not eligible for election at the time she signed this form, she fraudulently misrepresented her status and more serious consequences should follow," he said.

Steenhuisen said that in addition to writing to the Speaker for clarity, the DA would also submit an application to the IEC in terms of the Promotion of Access to Justice Act (PAIA), to obtain a copy of Faku's signed acceptance of nomination form.

"The DA finds the way the ANC has been abusing parliament appalling. Parliament is not a luxury boarding school for errant members and questionable characters.

"It is high time the ANC starts to respect parliament as the independent and constitutional institution that it is meant to be," Steenhuisen said.