DA Chief Whip Natasha Mazzone has been inserted into the DA’s shakedown on high-ranking members accused of falsifying their education qualifications.
Did Natasha Mazzone list herself as an Advocate on Wikipedia?
This week, South Africa’s official opposition party fell into a quagmire after it was revealed that former Western Province Head and MEC of Public Works and Transport Bonginkosi Madikizela had falsely listed himself as a BCommerce graduate in his CV.
According to Premier Alan Winde, Madikizela admitted his wrongdoings and voluntarily stepped aside for two weeks, pending the outcome of an internal probe.
“I am deeply concerned that minister Bonginkosi Madikizela’s biography contains information which he has accepted is not true… During that meeting, I made clear that acting with integrity is non-negotiable to me, and to the people of the Western Cape. I also made clear that I believe in fairness and due process, where all the facts are properly considered,” Winde told Times Live.
Winde, however, has — at least for now — not addressed the furore that’s emerged around Mazzone who has been the centre of scrutiny on recent activity that was observed on her official Wikipedia page.
Mazzone’s ‘position’ on Wikipedia was edited twice on Wednesday
Social media Sherlocks pointed out key discrepancies in the ‘position’ Mazzone listed.
BREAKING NEWS
— #BlackLivesMatter✊ (@Pseudonym_X92) April 16, 2021
Following the suspension of DA MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela for falsifying his qualifications, Natasha Mazzone's Wikipedia page was edited yesterday & her qualification/profession altered.
BEFORE (first 2 frames) : Advocate
AFTER (Last 2 frames) : None pic.twitter.com/8e7vr8cnvi
For as long as her page has existed, the DA’s Chief Whip was listed as an ‘Advocate’.
However, interesting events were recorded on Wednesday — coincidentally — around the same time Madikizela was under fire for falsifying his qualifications.
Two entries were made in correcting Mazzone’s ‘position’. The first contribution was made by a user with IP Address 102.65.63.209 (we looked into this IP and confirmed that it pings from the Western Cape, around the Muizenberg region), at 15:39, who changed the Chief Whip’s position from ‘Advocate’ to ‘none’.
This would corroborate with the fact that while Mazzone has studied Law In the past, she never completed her LLB degree.
The second contribution was made by user Libdem94, an account that was deleted shortly after the entry from ‘none’ to ‘Member of Parliament’ was made at 16:15.
Based on Wiki records, this account was created on 24 May 2017 and lay dormant until Wednesday 15 April when all eyes were cast on DA high-ranking members’ qualifications.
Former DA member Brett Herron has pointed to the DA as the culprits behind this questionable activity. In a tweet, he said:
Yesterday there was clearly a lot of urgent banging away on keyboards going on in @Our_DA.
— Brett Herron (@brettherron) April 16, 2021
Until yesterday @Natasha9Mazzone bio claimed she was an Advocate but today it says “none” for profession. You need an LL.B degree to be an Advocate. https://t.co/mJx12HssFm
Neither Mazzone nor the DA has issued a statement to address this. Albert Fritz has stepped in as Acting Provincial Leader in the Western Capde.