The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has raised serious concerns regarding a string of allegations facing social development minister Sisisi Tolashe.
Tolashe is accused of misleading parliament regarding two luxury SUVs received from Chinese officials. She allegedly gifted these vehicles to her daughters without declaring them to parliament. Furthermore, she faces accusations of using a food aide on the department’s payroll as a private nanny at her residence. It is alleged that this employee was required to pay half her monthly salary to the minister’s daughter.
The Sunday Times previously reported about a leaked audio recording in which Tolashe allegedly indicated she would avoid answering specific parliamentary questions.
Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi argued that the severity of these claims demands immediate intervention from the president.
“Saftu is not a court of law,” Vavi stated. “We do not declare anyone guilty before due process. But these allegations are serious enough to demand immediate presidential clarification, not silence, evasions, or factional protection.”
Vavi emphasised that the core issue is not merely the validity of the claims, but “why is President Cyril Ramaphosa not acting?”, highlighting the president’s constitutional power to appoint and remove cabinet members.
While Tolashe appeared in parliament on Wednesday to deny the allegations, maintaining she did “nothing wrong”, opposition parties including the DA and ActionSA have already opened criminal cases against her.
Vavi slammed Ramaphosa’s silence.
“Why, then, must the country be subjected to this public spectacle while the president keeps quiet? Why should parliament be the first institution forced to extract answers when the president himself should be explaining whether he still has confidence in a minister facing such serious allegations?”
He drew a direct line between Tolashe’s situation and the president’s own legal challenges regarding the Phala Phala saga and CR17 funding.
“Ramaphosa cannot today posture as though parliamentary protection of compromised leaders is something foreign to him,” Vavi said. “He directly benefited from it. This is exactly the same pattern South Africans witnessed during the Jacob Zuma years.”
Vavi cited other ANC leaders under scrutiny, describing the current governing elite as being trapped by “mutual vulnerability”, where leaders are unable to hold one another accountable because everyone has “skeletons in the closet”.
Saftu attributes the ANC’s electoral decline to this lack of accountability, claiming the party’s “renewal” strategy has effectively collapsed.
Vavi demanded that Ramaphosa explain what actions he has taken since the Tolashe allegations went public. He called for independent investigations into all implicated ministers, warning that if the entire leadership is compromised, accountability will remain selective.
“That is the crisis South Africa faces,” Vavi warned. “Not isolated scandals, but a governing elite that has lost the moral authority to police itself.”
TimesLIVE
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