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Member of parliament Ghaleb Cachalia has maintained his loyalty to the Democratic Alliance following his sacking by the opposition party over the remarks on Israel-Palestine war.
Cachalia said he will not allow his demotion over his public comments criticising the genocide in Gaza to stop him from speaking truth to power.
He was shown the door on Thursday, where he served as the shadow minister of public enterprises. Mimmy Gondwe has since ascended to the position.
“I will not be silenced. Israel is committing genocide,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
The remarks seemed to have not sat well with the party leader John Steenhuisen who swiftly removed him from his ‘cabinet’.
In a letter addressed to Cachalia on Thursday, Steenhuisen wrote that during a meeting they had on October 19, they collectively engaged in a thorough discussion on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“At the conclusion of the meeting, caucus affirmed our party position in favour of a two-state solution, against the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel, while calling for international law and access to humanitarian aid to be upheld at all times in Gaza.”
Steenhuisen stated that Cachalia violated the caucus decision by tweeting and further accused engaging the media on the matter in a way that further fuel division.
He added; “Your conduct amounts to a display of remarkable selfishness. You have demonstrated a disregard for a formal decision of the DA’s national caucus.
“Even worse, your conduct is deeply disrespectful towards your colleagues – many of whom feel equally strongly about this and other matters, but have nonetheless continuously engaged with each other, with the party, and with the public in an appropriate respectful manner.
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“Your conduct, in willful violation of a caucus decision, is deeply undermining of my leadership and unbecoming of someone who holds a senior position in my shadow cabinet.
“We cannot, and we will not, emulate the ANC cabinet’s consistent failure to uphold accountability or implement consequence management.
“Consequently, I hereby inform you that I have taken the decision to relieve you of your position as a member of the shadow cabinet.”
‘No wish to engage on this…’ Cachalia says
In a statement issued on Friday, Cachalia said he had no wish to enter into a ‘he said, she said’ engagement on this.
“It is the prerogative of the leader of caucus in parliament to hire and fire members of his cabinet. I will now proceed to perform my legislative and oversight duties from the backbenches and will ensure that I serve the party and the nation in continuing what I began.
“I entered politics to remove Zuma and followed through to eradicate his legacy of ineptitude and malfeasance which persists in the current ANC.
“I will persevere in this regard in the run-up to the election next year.”
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