ANC CORRECTS UNTRUTHS REGARDING CDE MALEMA'S DISCIPLINARY CASE 

The African National Congress has noted notions, bold claims and insinuations by some commentators and faceless individuals either from ANC or ANCYL, turning a purely ANC disciplinary matter into a political issue.

The ANC regards the matter concerning cde Julius Malema as a purely disciplinary matter as contained in the ANC Constitution, particularly Rule 25. This is also not an instrument to determine the performance of the ANC President or any of the ANC Officials, but a purely disciplinary matter.

This matter cannot by any stroke of imagination be linked to any imagined political contestation or preferences in any ANC Conference. The fact that the ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, initiated the disciplinary proceedings in terms of the ANC Constitution, clearly foregrounds the responsibility of the ANC Secretary General in dealing with deviant behaviour amongst ANC members and leaders.

The ANC Secretary General as the engine of the organisation, amongst other is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that those in the political leadership who goes against the spirit and letter of the Constitution of the organisation, are brought before a National Disciplinary Committee (NDC), to answer for their deviant behaviour.

This is indeed the case on the matter of cde Julius Malema who is a member of the ANC and a President of the ANC Youth League. The ANC Secretary General, as empowered by the Constitution has indeed initiated disciplinary processes on suspected deviant behaviour on the part of cde Julius Malema. This process is now at the level of the ANC NDC which has indeed asked cde Malema to answer for what is suspected deviant behaviour.

We must all accept that the charges put before cde Julius Malema by the ANC NDC do not by any means find him guilty of any wrong doing or pronouncements. Cde Malema remains innocent of any of the charges levelled against him until they are proven. The disciplinary hearing will obviously lead evidence on the charges levelled, and cde Malema and his defence will be able to refute such evidence and even bring his own evidence in defence.

If indeed there are any interpretations or allegations of political witch-hunt against cde Malema for whatever reason, such evidence for such political witch-hunt will then be put by himself and his defence to the hearing. It will be for the NDC to make their own informed decision regarding any evidence before it.

The commentations that have been made thus far by some who we even considered intelligent enough, have put before the South African populace a case where in their view, cde Malema has been charged because of his or the ANCYL leadership preference in the 2012 ANC National Conference. These commentators and some alleged faceless ANC and ANCYL individuals have made these wild claims without even interrogating the actual charges themselves and without even allowing the disciplinary process to get underway and remove fiction from facts.

The commentators and some faceless ANC insiders have missed an important point in this matter.

First of all, immaterial of the political relation or lack thereof between the ANC Secretary General and any member of the ANC NEC, including cde Malema, the ANC Secretary General acting on behalf of the National Officers, the National Working Committee (NWC) or the National Executive Committee (NEC), has a constitutional responsibility to initiate and refer any deviant behaviour by any NEC member to the NDC. 

Secondly, the NDC cannot be used for any political agenda or witch-hunt because "whatever disciplinary proceedings against a member shall be confined to the violations of the ANC constitution, rules and regulations, standing orders, codes of conduct, and the policies and decisions of the ANC".

Our Constitution further states that "disciplinary proceedings shall not be used as a means of stifling debate or denying members their basic democratic right or be instituted as a means of solving private problems or as a means of interfering in the private lives of members where the norms of the organisations are not directly affected, unless such conduct itself constitutes a violation or an offence affecting the organisation".

At the meeting of the Officials with the ANCYL last week, the Youth league did make some submissions regarding the disciplinary hearing against cde Julius Malema, its President. The ANC Officials will interact with the representation made and will then find an appropriate mechanism within the constitution, particularly Rule 25 of the ANC Constitution, of making their response to the ANCYL submission.

We have had in recent weeks, observed the killing of the former leader of the AWB, Mr Eugene Terre'Blanche and the subsequent appearance in Court of the suspects. Some sections of the media, some commentators and political organisations wanted to hypocritically pass this purely criminal matter as politically motivated. We are also seeing, in this Malema ANC disciplinary case, similar trends of politicisation of a purely misconduct matter. The ANC is confident that any attempt by anybody to seeking to politicise this matter will not succeed. We also have confidence on the capacity our NDC to deal with this matter.

It is very unfortunate that names of very outstanding leaders of the ANC have been dragged in an attempt to make this purely misconduct issue a political one. Officials and all leaders of the ANC fully understand their responsibilities and are united in uprooting any form of ill-discipline within the ranks of the ANC. The last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting declared that this "culture of publicly attaching each other will become entrenched if we do not act against it.

We will create an image of an organisation and country dogged by tension and infighting.  This NEC meeting must draw a line between what is acceptable and what is not.  There must be consequences for people's actions."  The NEC further asserted that " if we fail to act, we will not be able to inspire confidence in the nation and internationally, we will have failed the branches of the ANC that entrusted upon us this important responsibility of leading the ANC."

We would also like to reject with contempt any attempts on the side of the media to create an impression that our Officials and ANC Leaders are divided on the matter of the disciplinary hearing against cde Malema.  We would also like, in the same vein, to restate that the disciplinary hearing against cde Malema or any ANC members remains a purely internal ANC matter. We therefore make the request that the media should allow the ANC space to conduct its internal business without any undue influence and hindrance. 

Statement issued by African National Congress National Spokesperson Jackson Mthembu, April 23 2010

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