ANC’s chief whip Pemmy Majodina says son’s PPE deal involvement is ‘regrettable’

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina on Sunday said she is willing to subject herself to parliament’s ethics committee to explain her son’s involvement in an ANC caucus PPE procurement deal which supplied thermometers worth R52,500 to party constituency offices in January.

In a statement, Majodina, via her spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota, said she “regrets the involvement of her son Mkhonto weSizwe Majodina in the PPE caucus procurement deal”.

“It is the intention of the chief whip to subject herself to a parliamentary ethics probe if and when called upon to do so to clear perceptions of any flouting of regulations,” said Kota.

The Sunday Times reported that Majodina, who is one of the party's most senior deployees in parliament, is embroiled in a scandal over an alleged conflict of financial interest after it emerged that the parliamentary caucus she manages awarded a deal for personal protective equipment (PPE) to her son.

It is understood that a company in which Majodina's son, Mkhonto weSizwe, is a sole director apparently supplied 150 thermometers valued at R350 each to be used in the party's constituency offices across SA.

Mkhonto weSizwe is the sole director of King Mzimshe Trading, a company registered in Bhisho, in the Eastern Cape.

The company invoiced the “ANC national caucus” for R52,500 on January 15 for supplying the instruments to measure body temperature.

In the report, Majodina defended the transaction saying the caucus did not have to go to open tender as the amount was less than R100,000. This is in terms of the ANC parliamentary caucus's financial policy, she said. However, this was disputed by two insiders.

“The chief whip is aware that this may be reasonably perceived as a form of abuse of office and nepotism due to the proximity of her son. The chief whip reiterates her long—standing commitment to upholding the law,” said Kota on Sunday.