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By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

The ANC Interim Provincial Committee in the North West is expected to convene a press conference at ANC Provincial offices, Mpekwa House on Sunday at 11am to officially announce the suspension of ANC memberships of five Members of Provincial Legislature (MPLs) in the North West Provincial Legislature.

The suspension decision comes after the ANC Interim Provincial Committee in the North West allegedly established that Mokgoro was among five ANC members of the NWPL who defied the party’s mandate this week by voting for ANC MPL, Priscilla Williams, as the NWPL’s Chair of Chairs.

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The ANC IPC instructed its members to vote for MPL, Lenah Miga as the new NWPL Chair of Chairs. However, the ANC IPC spokesperson, Kenny Morolong did not deny nor confirm the suspension allegations.

Morolong said: “Well, we cannot confirm nor deny these reports. All I can say is that we’ve got a scheduled press conference on Sunday at which we will expand on these matters.”

However, Mokgoro told Newzroom Afrika TV channel that he did not receive any communication from the IPC and he just heard these allegations from the media.

Meanwhile, the ANC Regional Secretary in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati region, Gaolatlhwe Kgabo said the ANC IPC has no powers to suspend memberships of any member according to the party’s constitution.

“According to Rule 25.56 of the Constitution of the ANC should not be implemented out of the context of its sub-rules 25.57.4 and 25.57.5 that will constitute a fatal defective interpretation of ANC Constitution. The rule that speaks to temporary suspension has prerequisites that are clear in the Constitution both in the preamble of rule 25.56 and in rule 25.57.4 and 25.57.5.

“Critical prerequisites of suspension of membership are that a disciplinary process should be due and pending, implications being that a member shall have been served with charges,” he said.

Kgabo said this is further succinctly spelled out in rule 25.57.4 to put the charges before a member for comment and rule 25.57. 5 afford a member a 48hrs to respond to charges before putting temporary suspension to effect either through WhatsApp or SMS as it is alleged to have been the case with Mokgoro and others.

He added that the provision of rule 25.56 and 25.57 is intended to provide procedural credence and legitimacy to a process that if not delicately handled can lead to fatal prejudice of a member.

“The the implication, therefore, is that if membership of anyone is suspended without that a member being served with charges as per rule 25.57.4 and that member afforded 48hrs to respond to charges as per rule 25.57.5, such a suspension will be procedurally flawed and unconstitutional.

“If what is reported by the Dispatchlive is true that indeed Mokgoro does not know about the suspension of his membership and only hear it first from the media, then rule 25.57.4 & 5 will have been grossly undermined rendering the suspension a constitutional and legal moot point and/or act,” said Kgabo.

He said the constitution of ANC confers powers for temporary suspension of membership to PEC, PWC at the provincial level. Kgabo said even though the constitution provides for interim structures to be constituted after disbandment at regional or provincial level, there is nowhere in the entire constitution of ANC where the power to suspend is conferred to an interim structure either at regional or provincial level.

“It is for this reason that interim structures are existing at the  behest of NEC decision at a provincial level and PEC decision at a regional level, interim structures therefore derives terms of reference of their functions from the NEC for provincial interim or PEC for regional interim structure.

“The IPC, therefore, thrives on borrowed power from the NEC and in terms of their terms of reference they will have to source authority from the NEC through the SGO to transact such a delicate political transaction as suspending the Premier and public office Bearers and virtually collapse the provincial Government thereby effecting a coup de tat on their own government,” he said.

Kgabo said there is just no way anyone sane in Luthuli House will have allowed such an outrageous wild venture to ensue without IPC following due process of the constitution to the latter as provided for in rule 25.56 and 25.57 with all its sub-rules.

“Let’s say for argument sake, Mokgoro has indeed voted with opposition and that indeed constitute a travesty that may not be disputed by any ANC member, but how does IPC know since the secret ballot was expedited?

“If IPC leadership knows with surety and authority that Mokgoro and others voted with the opposition then as South Africans, we should be very worried about the credibility of our parliamentary electoral system because if it would have been so easy for IPC to know who voted how and with who in a secret parliamentary vote, then it implies that our parliament’s secret ballot system is not that secret,” said Kgabo.

He said that should be a grave concern to a nation whose constitution advocates for a free and fair electoral system where everyone shall exercise their right to vote free without any fear of intimidation including the fear of being expelled and or suspended.

“If, we can simply know as a fact how did people vote on a secret ballot in parliament nogal, how credible is our national secret ballot in the IEC? And how should we trust our national electoral system if the ruling party in the North West punts an idea that what we have known to be secret is not actually that secret?

“Is the IPC insinuation not undermining the credibility of our parliamentary electoral system? If so, is this a progressive role a ruling party should play in society as polarised as South Africa?” asked Kgabo.

He said he is not sure what the IPC will announce as they were told there will be a press conference on Sunday by the media, but he said he does not think the IPC may be that naive and stupid to make an announcement that is factional, unconstitutional or may undermine the credibility of the electoral system of the national electoral system.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

   

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By REGINALD KANYANE

The Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality continues to be marred with fraud, corruption and maladministration allegations under the stewardship of Boitumelo Mahlangu.

This comes after the startling allegations levelled against some of the municipal officials that they paid a service provider, HT Pelatona Projects PTY (LTD) a whopping R16 million in advance for ‘raising the main from the Bloemhof WTW to Olievenfontein and elevate tank and pump station.’  

EFF regional chairperson, Tebogo Babuile said they have written a letter to the beleaguered Mahlangu as the political head requesting her to explain these allegations. He said Section 56 of the Municipal Structure Act stipulates clearly that it is the responsibility of the executive mayor to monitor the work of the administration.

“It cannot be that the municipality paid upfront payment. Whether it was an upfront payment of the entire project or payment for the material on-site, the fact remains that the municipality paid R16m to Pelatona.

“Now, they are saying the payment was for material on site. However, we went there as the EFF leadership and did our own oversight and assessment, but we can confirm that there was no material on site,” Babuile said.

He further said it is unlawful for the municipality to pay such an amount for the material set to be on-site, but the reality of the matter was that the material was not on site. Bauile said they will demand that Mahlangu give a report back to the council so that it can be able to take a resolution.

“As the EFF, we are also more interested to find out who was part of these shenanigans. We want the names of all those officials that were on duty on 16 December 2020. We also want to check whether if the municipality paid them overtime because it was on a public holiday.

“This is not the first instance. Back in December 2019, the then acting Municipal Manager, Mpho Mothibi paid off the Izwelethu Sam Force the amount of R21 million for material on site, but when we went there, the material was not on-site,” he said.

Babuile added that they are a concern as EFF because it seems it is now a norm in the district that every Municipal Manager who comes in will then pay a company millions of rands without ensuring that there is material on site.

He said if these allegations are true, they want every official who participated in these unlawful and illegal activities to be suspended with immediate effect.

“We also call on the municipality to start with internal investigation process before we even go to the law enforcement agencies,” he highlighted.

However, Gaolatlhwe Kgabo who is a Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for infrastructure at the municipality refuted the allegations.

Kgabo said: “It is important to clarify the fact that the contractor was appointed in line with the Supply Chain Management policies of the municipality. Yes, indeed the contractor was paid R16 million, however, it was not in advance as it was reported.

“The contractor was paid R16m for the material that was on site. Basically, before the payment was processed, there was verification done just to confirm that there is material on site. Subsequent to that, we got a letter from the factory confirming that the contractor has fully paid the material.”

He said the material was just kept due to the festive break and as the result, they can safely confirm that the payment was not for the advanced payment but rather for material on site. Kgabo added that the material was currently being delivered to the site.

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