MK Party chief whip Mmabatho Nthabiseng Mokoena-Zondi handed herself over to the police last week after a warrant for her arrest was issued over charges of extortion and fraud.
She is accused of demanding that parliamentary researchers in the party’s employ pay between 50% to 60% of their salaries over to her, claiming this was a “voluntary contribution” required to cover the legal costs of the party’s leader, Jacob Zuma.
This docking of salaries allegedly took place between August and December 2024 and amounted to over R200,000. The Hawks also noted that she has a previous fraud conviction.
From the onset, labour laws were glaringly being trampled upon. What those poor staffers thought was a golden opportunity to work at the National Assembly and conduct research for the country’s official opposition turned into a classic case of extortion.
This was clearly not a far-fetched idea for Mokoena-Zondi, as she herself — like most MPs — is expected to pay over a portion of her salary to the political party that deployed her as a public official. She must have thought it was natural for others employed by her party to do the same, just as it was expected of her.
What she must have unknowingly or deliberately ignored is that there is a stark difference between what is expected of politicians who willingly choose to sign up for political party membership, versus staff members who may well be activists of the party but have a different relationship which involves an employment contract.
It must have taken extreme bravery to stand up for themselves knowing it could result in the loss of income and termination of employment.
Labour laws are what ought to have protected these researchers from the vulnerability of being grateful for the employment opportunity and the blurring of lines of loyalty.
“Voluntary contributions” from junior staff can never truly be voluntary. There is a power imbalance at play which resulted in these researchers allegedly being coerced in the manner in which they were.
In addition, there is a case to answer regarding the normalisation of party levies or tithes in the South African political landscape. Where do we draw the line between genuine political party fundraising and blatant extortion and exploitation? It’s almost as if there is a protection fee dynamic, a classic case of ‘pay up, or else?’
Why should the funding of political parties rely disproportionately on their deployees, who have families to feed using the money that they work for. There is a culture of extraction within political parties that no one speaks about.
Perhaps it is time to wake up the conversation and reimagine other fundraising techniques that won’t risk compromising party loyalists.
Despite enduring months of this extortion, it is important that these staffers eventually smelt a rat and challenged the practice. It must have taken extreme bravery to stand up for themselves knowing it could result in the loss of income and termination of employment.
Their courage to speak up and report the matter should be applauded. Let this be a lesson to those who think that wielding political power will save them from abusing others under the guise of politics.
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