By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has described claims that Chief Whip in the National Assembly Natasha Mazzone has lied about her qualifications as fake news.
Steenhuisen was responding to the recent suspension of Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela after it was found that he may have lied about having a BCom degree.
Madikizela admitted this week to lying about having a BCom degree in human resources from Unisa when in fact he had not completed the degree, leading to widespread calls for his suspension by the party, calls which it subsequently heeded.
Steenhuisen says his party views lying about qualifications in a very serious light.
The Good party’s Brett Herron brought to light questions around Mazzone’s qualifications following claims that she edited her Wikipedia page to remove the word “advocate” from her qualifications in her biography.
Responding to Herron’s accusation, Mazzone said that she had always teased herself for being a matriculant and that this was something Herron knew.
According to media reports, the DA listed Mazzone as having legal qualifications when she was elected as the deputy federal council chairperson.
However, Mazzone insisted that it was well known that she only had matric as she had never completed her degree, despite doing her articles, and she had never been admitted as an attorney due to her not finishing the degree.
On her Twitter account, Mazzone also hit out at former EFF MP Godrich Gardee who had also questioned Mazzone on her qualifications.
In November 2018, DA leader John Steenhuisen’s own lack of post matric qualifications were brought to the spotlight after it emerged that he only had matric obtained from Northwood Boys High School in Durban.
However, currently his Wikipedia bio also lists the London School of Economics as his alma mater.