South Africa News

Protesters call for the arrest of Qedani Mahlangu and Brian Hlongwa

This was what Treatment Action Campaign members said during a march to the Gauteng Legislature in Joburg yesterday.

They demanded that the ANC deals with Mahlangu, who was health MEC when over 140 Life Esidimeni patients died, and Hlongwa, who is accused of massive corruption when he was MEC.

Thuma Qedani Mahlangu and Brian Hlongwa to jail or we’ll thuma you out of office in the next elections!”

Brian Hlongwa

The protesters said it was unacceptable that the provincial ANC elected Mahlangu and Hlongwa to their executive committee during the party’s provincial conference.

The campaign’s secretary-general Anele Yewa said: “We’re calling for Hlongwa and Mahlangu to be removed from the provincial leadership of the ANC because they have a dark cloud hanging over their heads.

“ANC members in Gauteng re-electing Hlongwa and Mahlangu are showing the middle finger to their voters, the families of the Esidimeni victims, and are failing people because of the collapse of the health system.”

Yewa said Mahlangu was responsible for mass murder, as with apartheid presidents PW Botha and Hendrik Verwoerd, and must face the full might of the law.

The DA’s Jack Bloom said corruption had been going on in the Health Department for over 10 years and said Hlongwa should have been jailed 10 years ago.

“The health department has never recovered since what he did there. “After Hlongwa, we got Mahlangu. There wasn’t just corruption but she killed people. She was in charge and should be in prison.”

Meanwhile, the protesters handed over their memorandum of demands to Legislature Speaker Ntombi Mekgwe. Mekgwe promised to start dealing with the issues.

Source: Daily Sun

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