Johannesburg - Agang SA would announce next week what disciplinary measures it intended to take against two of its MPs who it accused of bringing the party into disrepute, the party's national executive council (NEC) said on Friday.
The NEC met earlier to discuss the future of MPs Mike Tshisonga and Andries Tlouamma, as well as other members belonging to the party's “takeover” faction, said spokesman Jock McConnachie.
The party had received additional complaints against Tshisonga and Tlouamma from a “reliable parliamentary source” that the two were neglecting their parliamentary duties.
“This hampers the work of all smaller parties, as decisions cannot be taken if members are absent,” McConnachie earlier said.
Tlouamma, who is Agang SA 's current deputy president, dismissed the party's NEC, saying whatever decision it took would not stick.
“Who is this NEC? Is this the NEC of the president (Mamphela Ramphele) who ran away? They can put forward whatever they want to. They tried that before,” he said on Friday.
The party's former NEC had been disbanded by Ramphele in May.
Tlouamma said as the party's deputy president, he was the president following Ramphele's departure from politics on Tuesday.
“I am president at least until the elective congress. Those people do not know protocol.”
He denied neglecting his parliamentary duties and said he attended meetings in the labour portfolio committee regularly.
Agang SA has been marred by internal divisions as a faction tried to wrestle the leadership of the party from Ramphele.
One faction held an NEC meeting in Alexandra at the end of June at which it was decided that Ramphele was not fit for the position.
She was subsequently suspended but a group supporting Ramphele retaliated by expelling those who had attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, the party's current NEC had taken steps to prohibit the former NEC access to the party's Johannesburg premises.
“In terms of a decision of the former NEC to which both Tshisonga and Tlouamma were party, the offices were supposed to have been vacated in May,” said McConnachie.
“That did not happen and the takeover group have in recent weeks been using the offices for their own purposes,” he said.
McConnachie claimed the takeover group may have believed it had achieved victory following Ramphele's resignation on Tuesday.
“But the party is proving more resilient than that with calls being made by rank and file Agang SA membership and structures for the reconstituted NEC to resist the efforts of the takeover group,” he said.
Sapa