By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ANC MP Mervyn Dirks says South Africans are unpatriotic, hence they vandalise their own infrastructure. Photo Credit: Misheck Makora.
The African National Congress (ANC) has suspended its Pietermaritzburg MP, Mervyn Dirks, following a fallout over his decision to lodge a complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a leaked audio in which he noted that state resources and public funds were allegedly used for ANC’s campaigns.
In the audio recording, Ramaphosa is heard saying he was “willing to fall on the sword” to protect the ANC instead of revealing the names of the members who had allegedly used public funds for their political campaigns ahead of the governing party’s 2017 elective conference.
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina wrote a letter to Dirks on the disciplinary charges against him.
This after Dirks ignored Majodina’s instruction earlier this week to withdraw a letter to Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the chair of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), in which he asked that Ramaphosa be summoned to appear to account about what he knows regarding the misuse of public funds for party political activities.
“This serves to notify you of the intention of the office of the chief whip to initiate disciplinary proceedings against you. This follows your conduct unbecoming of a whip of the ANC parliamentary caucus, a position of leadership in the ANC caucus,”reads Majodina’s letter to Dirks, dated January 20.
This further serves to notify you of the intention of the office of the chief whip to place you on precautionary suspension with immediate effect for the necessary investigations to take place,” it further reads.
During the period of suspension, Dirks will be relieved of his duties as the whip of the ANC’s Scopa study group and as the questions whip of the ANC parliamentary caucus.
His membership of the party’s powerful strategy committee will be suspended and his membership of Scopa withdrawn.
Dirks will also be removed from the ANC caucus’s WhatsApp groups and he has been “specifically” prohibited from engaging on any media platform “in any way whatsoever regarding this matter”.
He wanted Ramaphosa to appear before Scopa over allegations that he knew about — and took no action against — the misuse of state funds for ANC campaigning.