Ace Magashule and Tony Yengeni had dared the ANC to act against them after they individually vowed to protest against the decision to place Magashule under suspension at former president Jacob Zuma’s court appearance last week.
THE ANC is considering laying disciplinary charges against its suspended secretary-general, Ace Magashule, and national executive committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni for allegedly making disparaging remarks about some of the party leaders during former president Jacob Zuma’s court appearance last week.
Magashule and Yengeni dared the ANC to act against them after they individually vowed to protest against the party’s decision to place Magashule under suspension after charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering were served against him in November last year.
On May 3, the ANC served Magashule with a notice of suspension and ordered him not to address any ANC rallies or any other gathering using the party’s name.
But during Zuma’s court appearance in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where the former president stood accused of multiple counts of fraud, corruption and money laundering, Magashule openly defied his party and vowed that nobody would “expel him from the ANC”.
Yengeni echoed the same sentiments and accused some ANC leaders of using state resources to lay criminal charges against their opponents within the party.
Now, the pair, as well as Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus, are due to face the music.
This was revealed by ANC acting secretary-general Jessie Duarte when she addressed the media on the outcomes of the ANC national working committee (NWC) meeting, which was held on Monday.
Without mentioning their names, Duarte said the party’s NWC “condemned the unbecoming, divisive and defiant behaviour of comrades secretary-general Magashule, Tony Yengeni and Carl Niehaus during the recent court appearance of former president Jacob Zuma”.
“The NWC instructed the national presenter to look into these breaches of discipline and to investigate charges in line with the ANC constitution and code of conduct.”
According to Duarte, the national presenter, who has already been appointed, has about 60 days to gather and establish grounds for the prosecution of the three. The presenter will have to table his report before the party’s NEC for a decision to refer the matter to the national disciplinary committee.
Duarte also announced that they had met the deadline on Tuesday to oppose Magashule’s application to challenge his suspension.
“We presented our answering affidavits today,” she said.
The hearing will be held next Tuesday.
– Political Bureau
