The resignation of Kenny Kunene has many commendable lessons for those in public service.
A week ago, it emerged that Kunene, deputy leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), was at the house of murder accused Katiso Molefe during a police raid. Molefe, who has since been arrested, stands accused of masterminding the hit on DJ Sumbody and his two bodyguards.
Within days of this unflattering disclosure, the PA suspended Kunene, the member of the mayoral committee for transport in Johannesburg, and ordered an investigation into the matter. The party’s investigation will take a month.
On Friday, Kunene resigned from his positions as MMC and proportional representative in the Johannesburg council.
The handling of the matter deserves to be applauded. It is rare for politicians in our country to show such accountability.
Kunene has claimed he didn’t know that he was at Molefe’s home. According to his account, he was directed to Molefe’s home to meet an acquaintance, not Molefe. This has to be corroborated by the investigation.
Other parties, especially the ruling party, have a lot to learn from the conduct of Kunene and his leader, Gayton McKenzie.
It took President Cyril Ramaphosa two weeks before he acted on serious allegations of impropriety against Senzo Mchunu, his police minister. Mchunu has since been placed on special leave of absence, and the president went on to appoint an outsider, academic Firoz Cachalia, to act as a police minister.
This shows that the president and his party are not taking the allegations against Mchunu as seriously as the public would expect.
It took months for the president to sack Nobuhle Nkabane, the higher education minister, despite clear evidence of wrongdoing by the disgraced politician.
During his first term, Ramaphosa showed zero tolerance for corruption. He acted swiftly against those implicated in state capture.
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