The commission was investigating two statements the spin doctor released while he was the spokesperson of then Premier David ‘DD’ Mabuza.
The Public Service Commission has found that Mpumalanga government spin doctor Zibonele Mncwango breached professional ethics when he used government resources to defend the personal and ANC matters of then Premier DD Mabuza.
Action has now been recommended against Mncwango for “abuse of resources”.
On 5 May 2017, Mncwango released a media statement and which was later published on the Mpumalanga government website replying to a high court judgement in which a judge dismissed Mabuza’s defamation case against ANC former treasurer Mathews Phosa.
Mabuza had taken Phosa to the Tshwane high court following allegations Phosa made in 2015 that Mabuza was a spy during apartheid.
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Phosa said he had found a document that alleged Mabuza was operating under the code name PN485 and served to inform apartheid officials about the movements of senior leaders like ex-leader Jacob Zuma and basic education minister Angie Motshega from 1985 to 1993.
Mabuza refuted this, saying it was a political campaign aimed at toppling him as a leader of the ANC in the Mpumalanga province and Premier.
He alleged Phosa was one of the authors of the document in his drive to take him out of power and then approached the court, suing Phosa R10 million for defamation of character.
But the Tshwane high court dismissed the case, saying Mabuza failed to show how Phosa invented the document.
“The so-called spy dossier has no owner or author and remains just a smear campaign document produced by faceless authors for their smear campaign agendas,” Mncwango said at the time.
The DA went to the Public Service Commission and laid a complaint against Mncwango, charging the matter between Phosa and Mabuza had nothing to do with government.
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“The heading of the judgement by the Gauteng High Court in respect of the matter upon which Mr Mncwango issued an official statement clearly alludes to Mr David Dadebe Mabuza in his personal capacity and not as Premier of Mpumalanga,” the commission said this week in its findings.
“There is therefore little room for doubt that the action by Mr Mncwango is not only wrongful but lacks the necessary professional ethics befitting of [a] public servant,” the commission charged, recommending that the director-general of the Mpumalanga government, Mathews Mohlasedi, takes actions against Mncwango and prevent further abuse of state resources from happening again in the future.
SEE ALSO: Mathews Phosa won’t bring a good man down
(edited by ZK)
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