ANC HAULS TOLASHE TO EXPLAIN CHINESE SUVs “GIFTED” TO HER CHILDREN

Minister Sisisi Tolashe is hot water over two SUVs donated by Chinese officials to the ANC Women’s League.

By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief

The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.  

AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact

Embattled Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe has been summoned by the ANC’s National Executive Committee after two SUVs donated by Chinese officials to the ANC Women’s League were allegedly registered in her children’s names instead of going to the league.  

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula confirmed on Monday that the NEC wants answers directly from Tolashe while it waits for a report from the party’s Integrity Commission. “The party’s executive has not yet received a report from the commission, but has, in the meantime, asked Tolashe to explain her actions so that the party’s top brass can also be appropriately informed,” Mbalula said.  

The donation scandal broke after the media reported that Tolashe told the Integrity Commission she kept the vehicles to “protect ANC assets” during a time of financial crisis. The two SUVs were donated by unknown Chinese officials to the Women’s League in 2023. Tolashe is the league’s president.  

In an affidavit to the commission, she said she did not declare the vehicles to Parliament because they were not hers and were only in her possession for safeguarding. But the cars were allegedly registered to her children, not the ANC or the Women’s League.  

Mbalula said the ANC is not yet at the point of forcing Tolashe to step aside. But he warned: “If a minister breaks the Executive Ethics Code on matters like this, there’s no negotiation; you will be dropped.” He added that the matter is ultimately for the Women’s League to deal with. “There might not be a need for investigation based on the report that we get from the Women’s League

together with the minister.”  

Pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act is growing. The DA has demanded answers over what it calls Tolashe’s “double vehicle donation”. ActionSA has opened a criminal case against her for failing to declare the donation. Public anger over the SUV scandal continues to build.  

Tolashe has not declared the vehicles to Parliament.