Minister Gayton McKenzie has had to defend himself after he was attacked for failing to start the promised Joshlin Smith Foundation, following the child’s disappearance. File picture
Cape Town - Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has defended the non-existence of the Joshlin Smith Foundation he promised to register and donate his first salary towards.
Joshlin, 7, went missing on February 19 from her Middelpos home in Saldanha Bay and McKenzie had been part of the search before his party Patriotic Alliance (PA) was voted into parliament.
On Sunday, DA MP Liam Jacobs asked McKenzie about the foundation.
He wrote on X: “He went from pledging to donate 100% of his salary to the foundation to admitting it doesn’t exist. While I respect the good endeavours and charities funded by the minister (it’s a noble thing to do), the fact remains that Joshlin Smith’s name was used to score political points.
“Part of being a Member of Parliament is holding the executive to account.
“We must tell the truth to South Africans and honour the trust they have placed in us by voting for us to hold these offices. Lying about sending money somewhere in the name of reputation is dishonourable.”
He went from pledging to donate 100% of his salary to the foundation to admitting it doesn’t exist. While I respect the good endeavours and charities funded by the minister (it’s a noble thing to do), the fact remains that Joshlin Smith’s name was used to score political points. pic.twitter.com/HLdWPEMvRA
— Liam Jacobs MP (@LiamJacobsZA) November 10, 2024
McKenzie confirmed that when he became a minister, he declared that he would not benefit from his salary and that it would be spent on the funding of the Joshlin Smith Foundation, which was yet to be set up.
“In the first months of my term, we have focused on the work of the Department and Ministry, and I have used the salary to fund worthy causes close to my heart, and the money has truly been making a difference. I have not used a cent of it for myself, and don’t intend to. Let’s be clear on that,” McKenzie said.
“The Joshlin Smith Foundation does not yet exist, because we want to make sure we get it right and don’t just do it to please the members of other political parties who think this matter has anything to do with them. It is a private, personal matter, relating to my own funds and what I choose to do with my own money. To rush into the creation of any foundation would be a mistake, and the obvious fact that it has not yet been registered does not mean that I have gone back on my undertaking to not benefit from my ministerial salary.
“We will continue to use the money to do good, with or without any foundation. Once the foundation is set up, we will also have to make sure that it will enhance the good work being done, not distract from it. When we interview for the directors, we will need the right people, to ensure that the foundation and its work can outlive me someday.”
He claimed to have funded the search for Joshlin from the day he became aware of it.
Joshlin’s maternal grandmother, Lauretta Yon, said she knew nothing about the foundation.
“No one approached me about it, I didn’t even know there was a plan to start a foundation, Gayton has not come to me about that.”
Joshlin’s mother, Kelly, her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, Lourentia Lombaard and Steveno van Rhyn were arrested for the trafficking of the little girl.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za