By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A group of ANC members wants party President Cyril Ramaphosa disciplined for allegedly influencing party elections despite Parliament and the Constitutional Court clearing Ramaphosa.
Onica Maphisa, a representative of the signatories, said, “we do not understand when he was cleared in parliament and by who. In court, there are different litigations that are still going on that might not be from the ANC itself. There are different people that have taken the president to court on the same matter of the bank statements that he has sealed.”
On Monday, Maphisa and others held a media briefing at the Booysens Hotel, in the south of Johannesburg, calling for the ANC national disciplinary committee (NDC) to act on Ramaphosa over the campaign funding.
The group defended suspended general secretary Ace Magashule, saying he was “well within his rights” when he attempted to suspend Ramaphosa — a decision which has been nullified by the Johannesburg high court. That nullification is meaningless, insists Maphisa, as the CR17 matter was an ANC internal issue that needs no court to pronounce on.
It was for this reason that they want Ramaphosa to be subjected to disciplinary action by the party for mobilising funds to contest internal leadership party battles at the 2017 Nasrec national elective conference.
This, they said, was in contravention of rule 25, which, they claim, prohibits the use of money to contest party positions.
These demands are innocent and without a hidden third hand, they insist.
“We are acting independently as members of the ANC in good standing, who are paying our own memberships fees,” said Maphisa.
“We are not aligned to anybody. It would be disingenuous to affiliate this to any person that is assumed to be disgruntled because I do not think that the stepping aside of the SG would be equated to him being disgruntled. So there is nobody that is sponsoring us.”
The group lodged a complaint with the office of the secretary-general, now headed by Jessie Duarte, on August 18.
They said Ramaphosa must step aside while the NDC does its work, and that he should return to his position once — and if — is cleared.
That Ramaphosa has been cleared by the courts in two separate cases, including the apex court on the matter of the public protector report, was of no effect, Maphisa contended.