Twar of the week: Mbalula 0, Maimane 1

Social media users in South Africa had a lot to discuss this week, with the revelations at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture raising eyebrows.

The ANC was also in the spotlight this week following a report alleging that the Gauteng education department spent R431 million on disinfecting schools in the province.

Among other expenses, the department allegedly spent R270,000 on disinfecting one primary school, R290,000 for a secondary school, R290,000 for a teacher’s centre and R390,000 for a district office.

ALSO READ: Sars finds 17 PPE tenders of R1.2bn involving ‘politically exposed persons’

Investigations into the expenditure have been initiated.

This is the letter we have written to the Hawks calling for an urgent investigation into the full extent of the corruption scandals that have occurred under Premier David Makhura’s watch.#NotFitToGovern pic.twitter.com/S017c8XqWa

— DA Gauteng (@DA_GPL) January 28, 2021

In response, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said he was “dismayed” by the report and called for an investigation.

However, One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane says the ruling party has been singing the same tune for years without any changes.

He said: “‘We are going to investigate’ – an ANC proverb'”, and further invited social media users to share other “ANC proverbs”.

“We are going to investigate” – an ANC proverb. pic.twitter.com/zmfb2rGz4n

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) January 27, 2021

“We are going to create jobs for the youth.” An #ANCProverb pic.twitter.com/rB7V9DJDte

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) January 27, 2021

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula hit back at Maimane and asked him about his criticism of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Maimane is the DA’s former leader.

He said: “What did you say when you were [the] very energetic leader of the DA? I’ve never heard you say something about DA, the people who messed you up politically. Not that you are wrong for exposing wrongdoing in government.”

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“The whole ANC can tag team but you won’t defeat the obvious truth. The ANC is full of proverbs but lacking substance. ‘We will fight corruption’. ‘We will investigate’, ‘We will provide 6 million jobs’, ‘We will fight GBV’. 27 years later and the promises have been exposed,” was Maimane’s comeback.

In response, Mbalula insisted on Maimane answering his question about what he had to say about the DA.

“Fine ‘We full of proverbs’. You do not answer my question,” he said.

In his response, Maimane slammed Mbalula’s “selective listening”, arguing he had done several interviews and spoken up about the DA on a number of platforms.

Social media users are waiting for the transport minister to respond.

He doesn’t have a come back anymore.????. ANC is rotten and needs to be voted OUT

— LegaTracks???? (@Lega_Tracks) January 27, 2021

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