On the Intimidation of MK Party MP David Skosana

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the brazen intimidation of MK Party Member of Parliament, David Skosana, following his robust engagement with Paul O’Sullivan in the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee.

According to media reports, Mr Skosana was served with bank papers by a sheriff this morning, following an incident yesterday in which O’Sullivan walked out of the Ad Hoc Committee during testimony, after being confronted by Skosana. In response, O’Sullivan told the Member of Parliament: “You are lying through your teeth. You should go and pay the bank back.”

Following that confrontation, it is no coincidence that confidential banking information was weaponised and acted upon with suspicious speed. The leak of Mr Skosana’s personal banking information, allegedly by Standard Bank, constitutes a direct violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Section 9 of POPIA provides that personal information must be processed lawfully and in a reasonable manner that does not infringe the privacy of the data subject. Section 19 imposes an obligation on responsible parties, including banks, to secure the integrity and confidentiality of personal information by taking appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to prevent unlawful access or disclosure.

The disclosure of Mr Skosana’s banking status or account details to O’Sullivan, a private individual with no lawful authority to access such information, is a gross contravention of these provisions. It is an unlawful processing and dissemination of personal information for purposes that are clearly not authorised by law.

Furthermore, Section 99 of POPIA provides that a responsible party may be held liable for damages resulting from interference with the protection of personal information. This matter is therefore not merely political it is criminal and civil in nature.

The conduct also offends the Banks Act, which governs the operations and duties of banking institutions in South Africa. Section 86 of the Banks Act prohibits the unlawful disclosure of information relating to the affairs of a bank or its customers, except under strictly regulated circumstances provided for by law. Banks are custodians of highly sensitive financial data and are bound by statutory and common law duties of confidentiality.

Any bank official who disclosed Mr Skosana’s information — directly or indirectly — to O’Sullivan or to third parties for purposes unrelated to lawful judicial process has violated this statutory duty and undermined the integrity of the financial system. If it is the officer of the court trusted to deliver these papers to Skosana who informed O’Sullivan of the service of papers, they also have violated the ethical and legal obligations governing officers of the court.

If court processes are being selectively weaponised and synchronised with political confrontations in Parliament, then this suggests something far more dangerous: collusion between elements within the judiciary, the financial sector, and a known political agitator.

This is typical of O’Sullivan who has a long-standing pattern of threatening law enforcement officials, witnesses, and now Members of Parliament. He weaponises personal information to intimidate those who question him. His barbaric behaviour before Parliament yesterday was the last straw that led the EFF to open a case against him for contempt this morning.

The EFF calls on Standard Bank to immediately publicly clarify whether they will conduct an internal investigation on the violation of the rights of Skosana purportedly by them or an individual associated with them as an institution.

Those involved in leaking Skosana’s personal information to O’Sullivan must be arrested with immediate effect. We call on all progressive forces to stand firm against this clear capture of our institutions. The EFF will never retreat in the face of intimidation and will pursue O’Sullivan and all those who shield him until accountability is secured.

The EFF supports the right to protest and encourages civic engagement.

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