Parliament Clears Former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize in Digital Vibes Saga, Can't Be Blamed For Son's Actions

• Ex-Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is now in the clear with Parliament's ethics committee that found he doing wrong in relation to the Digital Vibes scandal
• The committee said the Mkhize cannot be found responsible for the actions taken by his son who is a grown man
• South Africans are feeling frustrated by the ethics committee's ruling and feel that it is paving the way for corruption in Mzansi

CAPE TOWN - Zweli Mkhize, the former Minister of Health has been exonerated of any misconduct in the Digital Vibes tender contract scandal by Parliament's ethics committee.

The committee wrote to Mkhize on Tuesday, 12 April he did nothing wrong by not disclosing the benefits he may gave received from Digital Vibes.

A complaint was brought forward to the Ethics committee by the Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament Siviwe Gwarube following the release of the Special Investigating Unit's Digital Vibes report, reports News24.

Gwarube stated that Mkhize violated Parliament's ethics by not stating that he received benefits from the Digital Vibes contract.

The committee dismissed the complaint because two considerations were made in regard to the complaint. The first part is that Mkhize's son, Dendani received over R400 000 in benefits from Digital Vibes and the second is that Mkhize received R6 720 for electrical work done at his home in Bryanston.

The committee went on to say that Mkhize cannot be held accountable for his adult son's actions and therefore did not breach the ethics code in this regard, reports TimesLIVE.

In relation to the work done at his home, the committee said that the person invoiced for the repair work was someone named Thamsanqa Mkhize who is leasing the property and is not related to Mkhize therefore the former Health minister cannot be held liable for those repairs.

South Africans react to Parliament's decision regarding Zweli Mkhize

@MathekgaBino said:

"They have joined forces in destroying this country, Zandile Gumede is also back, seemingly she did nothing wrong. This is now preparing Mkhize to steal more money from us. We are doomed with ANC in power, it must be voted out."

@MduNdabaZulu said:

"Zuma was held liable for Duduzane doing business with Gupters you see how biased is the system."

@Tempo_rsa said:

"Digital Vibes, this just changed the whole game. It means it's not wrong if a husband works for the government and his family is doing business with the state, he should not be held liable for adults. Corruption has just been justified."

@zandilendimand7 said:

"Welcome to Anc world Ramaphosa wants a second term in order to get it. He needs to bring Zweli closer to gain KZN votes I’m not into politics but this is so clear."

R12m of R150m from Digital Vibes has been repaid, slow recovery from illegal beneficiaries

Briefly News previously reported that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has announced that only R12 million of the R150 million that was paid to illegal beneficiaries from Digital Vibes has been repaid.

The SIU is investigating the case. Around R22 million is estimated to have been paid from the Nedbank account linked to Digital Vibes to several other bank accounts. This implicates 11 people, for which the SIU acquired an interdict.

Digital Vibes' original contract was to the health department for their 2019 National Health Insurance (NHI) drive. The company is owned by Naadhira Mitha and Tahera Mather, who are associates of Zweli Mkhize, who was the health minister at the time.

Source: Briefly News