- The party discussed potential strategies for forming a government after losing its 30-year majority in an election.
- Kodwa was implicated in taking bribes from a businessman during a judicial inquiry in 2021.
- Police allege Kodwa used some of the bribes to purchase a “luxury” SUV vehicle.
Just as his party was meeting for talks to work out a way forward for the country after an election deadlock, a senior member of the African National Congress, who is also a South African Cabinet minister, was arrested and appeared in court on Wednesday over allegations of bribery.
According to police, Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa faces charges of accepting bribes amounting to around $90,000. He appeared in a courtroom in Johannesburg alongside another suspect in the case. Kodwa stated his intention to plead not guilty to the charges.
Kodwa, aged 54, is a member of the ANC’s internal National Working Committee, which convened on Tuesday as the party discusses potential strategies for forming a government after losing its 30-year majority in an election last week. The ANC has not indicated which other party or parties it might negotiate with to form a co-governing agreement, and talks are ongoing.
Kodwa became implicated in taking bribes from a businessman at a judicial inquiry in 2021, which investigated allegations of widespread government corruption involving ANC officials and others. The allegations pertain to the period when Kodwa served as the national spokesperson for the ANC and later as the deputy minister of state security.
Police allege that Kodwa used some of the bribes to purchase a “luxury” SUV vehicle.
Government corruption was viewed as one of the issues that led a majority of South Africans to shift away from the ANC in the election. The party received 40 percent of the vote, resulting in the loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time. Now, it must establish a coalition or reach an agreement with other parties.
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