Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party Member of Parliament David Skosana is facing a heavy payday in Parliament for verbally abusing a journalist and for concealing his directorship of a media company that is doing business with the state.
Parliament’s Ethics Committee has fined Skosana R15,000 for falling foul of this obligation and a further 15-day reduction in his salary for his aggressive behavior towards a female Newzroom Afrika journalist.
Skosana lost his cool on the sidelines of an August meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee investigating police corruption, when he was not asked to be interviewed by the journalist.
The committee released its findings on Wednesday after it investigated Skosana’s threats to a journalist and his failure to declare his directorship to a company doing business with the State.
Committee co-chairpersons Nonkosi Mvana and Joseph Britz said Newzroom Afrika Executive Director for Governance, Risk, Compliance and Legal, Thato Thalakga, lodged a complaint on behalf of reporter Nasiphi Same.
Thalakga said Same was assigned to cover and report on the proceedings of the Ad Hoc Committee established to investigate allegations made by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The first complaint against Skosana follows a parliamentary audit by the Auditor-General’s office, which noted that while Skosana disclosed his directorship in the confidential section of the members’ register, he failed to do so in the public part.