ANC NEC member and former minister of sports, arts and culture, Zizi Kodwa, imputes his arrest by the Hawks two months ago to a plot by some comrades within the liberation movement.
Kodwa, who resumed his membership of the ANC national executive committee on Wednesday after the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court cleared him, claims that his
arrest had political motivations over and above the criminal allegations.
Speaking to Sunday World this week, the emotionally charged former ANC spokesperson revealed that he had endured a difficult journey following his arrest on corruption allegations. These allegations included claims that Kodwa received R1.68-million from his co-accused businessman, Jehan Mackay.
Furthermore, in exchange for an IT software tender, Kodwa allegedly received payments to stay in upscale seaside villas in Cape Town between April 2015 and February 2016.
Kodwa said this week he immediately knew when news that he was the NPA’s next target was leaked to the media that there were political machinations at play.
He concluded then that the case was not only a criminal matter but that politics were involved. He said his arrest coincided with the ANC list nomination and that the intention was to ensure he is excluded from the list of people deployed in parliament and also publicly humiliated.
Claims political machinations
’“I knew that this was not a criminal case. There were certain names that had to be eliminated in the list process, and I was one of those. Public humiliation was that I should be arrested as a serving minister and getting arrested for the matter that happened in 2015, while I was a spokesperson of the ANC.
“I had no authority over any tender, as I was not even holding any public office,” Kodwa said. He acknowledged the existence of political pressure within the ANC to remove him from the process, including the suggestion that he shouldn’t serve in parliament. “The people who were behind this whole thing are some comrades in the organisation.
Whilst in politics, trust nobody, only your family, because all those who are close to you can plot and destroy you. Only those close to you can see you as a threat,” he said.
Those who made a noise on arrest are quiet now
Kodwa said the ANC Veterans League made a noise about his guilt in what he referred to as a court of public opinion, but he claimed that the same elders had not issued a single statement after his clearing.
“The veterans league under Bhuti Snuki (Zikalala) was at the forefront making noise, but there was no statement issued after I was cleared. I am not accusing him of anything, but now I am making observations on who is who in the organisation. The fact is that those close to you can be the first to destroy you, as they can see you as a threat,” he said.
He said he had no intention of suing the state, as he knew from the beginning that there were politics deeply entrenched in the matter.
“The people who have been spending sleepless nights plotting on me with the aim of public humiliation know who they are. I have no intention of going on a witch hunt to get people who were behind this. Sometimes people say these in four walls, and such information will come to me, as those walls have ears,” he said.
Kodwa stated that his family was so traumatised by the entire case that they decided his seven-year-old child should not watch news channels during the case.
“My child asked me one day after seeing me standing in court and said, ‘daddy why are you standing alone?’ This brought emotions to me, and those behind this should know that they were not only trying to destroy me, but their actions impacted badly on the people I am close to,” he said.
Friends disappear
He also stated that when he was arrested, the comrades he works with in the ANC were nowhere to be seen.
“It can be a very lonely journey to the point where your close friends and comrades you have known for years disappear as though they’ve found you guilty. I am grateful to some in the current leadership and former leaders like president Kgalema Montlanthe for their support. I am also grateful to the leadership of the ANCYL led by its president Collen Malatji and secretary general Mntuwoxolo Ngudle, who came to visit me the very day I appeared in court.
“I mention them because in the ANC we don’t celebrate when one of us is going through challenges and difficulties but we show solidarity and offer support,” he said.
Losing a salary was a significant blow to him but he acknowledged that his savings and wife provided financial support.
Kodwa heaped praises on his lawyer, Zola Majavu, who he said told him the case was politically motivated and that he would deal with it hands down.
On Wednesday, Kodwa was with ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa in Durban at a party event.
