Cape Town - The constituency office assistant to beleaguered ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman is considering legal action after her employment was terminated.
This comes days after Fransman’s unexpected resignation as a member of the Western Cape legislature where he served as the leader of the opposition.
Confirming she was axed last week, Vanessa le Roux said it came as no surprise as she was aware of a “hit list” of Fransman supporters that had been circulating in the province.
Le Roux’s name appears second on the list of 14 which the Cape Argus has seen.
“I know some of the others on this list have also received letters from the party,” she added.
She said she was an active member of the party who had been marginalised and victimised at work as a result of her support for Fransman and her opinion about the inconsistent treatment in the Fransman sexual assault case.
Le Roux said the past nine months were draining and stressful as she had to deal with continuous attempts to remove her from office.
“The letter was hand delivered to me on Wednesday and it stated that Fransman resigned on September 15 and my contract was terminated the next day. However, the letter was only delivered to Sahara House on September 21,” she said.
Le Roux said she was disappointed at the treatment she received at the hands of fellow members and those who were supporting certain factions within the ANC.
She stressed she was targeted because she worked for Fransman and had been outspoken about the way his case had been handled.
“There has been previous attempts to remove me, and I will definitely take this termination of contract further,” she added.
Le Roux claimed she was one of many casualties expected to come in the wake of the ongoing factional battles raging in the provincial leadership structures.
She said she started working with Fransman after co-ordinating the Save Our Schools campaign, which aimed to prevent the closure of about 27 schools in the Western Cape.
“I worked as the co-ordinator in Fransman’s provincial constituency office since last year and my contract was only set to expire in 2019,” she added.
Now unemployed, Le Roux said she was not taking matters lying down and would fight her dismissal.
“It is not the ANC that has been trying to get rid of me, it’s a few individuals within the party who are playing with people’s lives and giving the party a bad name. They are actually bringing the organisation into disrepute in the manner they are destroying the organisation.
“Provincial leaders are fighting petty political fights with administrators -when are they working for those that trusted them with their votes, when are they building branches?
“Now people can see why we faced the embarrassment in the local elections, because certain leaders focus on drawing up hit lists and removing administrators, particularly those who have an opinion,” she said.
Le Roux conceded she had been outspoken and vocal about the treatment her boss had suffered at the hands of party membersn.
Le Roux is already pursuing defamation charges against ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs who failed to apologise earlier this month, after claiming Le Roux was not an ANC member as he called for her suspension during a recent provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting.
ANC chief whip Pierre Uys said the terms of Le Roux’s contract stated that in the event Fransman vacated his office in the provincial legislature as an MPL, Le Roux’s contract would automatically be terminated.
But Le Roux’s dismissal sparked outrage on social media, with Fransman taking to Facebook: “The ANC to which I belong will never allow an administrator to be punished when there is a political difference/fight! In fact that shows the lowest level of political abilities. She got her letter yesterday saying her employment ended with me leaving (the) legislature.
“Attempt to get her out was there a while ago - even to a point where she was told she wasn’t a member. Well, she decided not to submit but rather to stand up and refused the values of the ANC to be compromised on altar of expediency.”
He emphasised a mother of an 11-year-old child, and the daughter of an elderly mom who was dependent on her, now had no income.
“I just hope that she would be able to be successful in telling her friends and family that it was not the movement to which we belong, but it was the individuals that had sold their souls to the highest bidder,” the post read.
Other posts read:
“So she is the first casualty, our thoughts are with you,”.
“Take them to the CCMA”.
“An injury to one is an injury to all”.
“Total madness”.
“Don’t play to the sickness of the UID, let them take the ANC for them, they are a bunch of disturbed people with a serious personality deficit.”
Cape Argus