The ANC says it remains “unfazed” by accusations levelled against its Western Cape chairman Marius Fransman by Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle.
On Tuesday Carlisle launched an extraordinary attack on Fransman from the floor of the provincial legislature, claiming his tenure in charge of the public works department had been marked by dodgy deals, corruption and mismanagement.
Carlisle, calling Fransman “gutless”, challenged him to clear his name.
But the ANC’s provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said Carlisle’s attack was just politicking.
“As the ANC, we remain unfazed by the allegations made by the DA. It shows us that the ANC is on the right track, the DA is panicking,” said Mjongile.
He said the charges raised by Carlisle were “not new” and had been peddled by the DA administration since it came into power.
“The insinuations and the innuendos that Carlisle has been making, we’re looking at them as a political diversion from the Premier’s (Helen Zille’s) empty promises.
“Her state of the province contains no clear plans on many issues affecting the people of the Western Cape,” said Mjongile.
He said Carlisle, in raising the issue of his former HOD Thami Manyathi, conveniently omitted that he had been “cleared” of any wrongdoing by the CCMA.
Manyathi’s departure followed a report, initiated by then-premier Lynne Brown (ANC), which detailed contracts awarded between April 1, 2006 and September 30, 2008, some of which were cited for flouting government rules on procurement. The contractors were Games Transportation System Services (GTSS), Hip Hop Media Lounge, BrandTalk and Saha International.
Manyathi, was suspended following unhappiness expressed by Carlisle about the awarding of a R91m transport tender to GTSS, an American company.
Although cleared by the CCMA, Manyathi was told that he would not be welcome to return to the department.
Xolani Sotashe, a senior ANC councilor in the City of Cape Town and a member of it’s regional task team, said Carlisle’s claims were “absolute rubbish”.
“He’s not saying that Marius Fransman was investigated and found guilty of A, B, C and D,” said Sotashe.
He said Carlisle was trying to drive a wedge in the ANC by refering glowingly to the last ANC administration, led by Brown, who attempted to get to the bottom of corruption allegations.
In his speech Carlisle mentioned Brown, Mcebisi Skwatsha, Max Ozinsky, Garth Strachan, Yusuf Gabru and Patrick McKenzie for their “reforming zeal” in trying to clean up the administration of former premier Ebrahim Rasool, now SA ambassador to the US.
Skwatsha’s defeat by Fransman in the race for ANC Western Cape chairman is the subject of a complaint by several branches of the ANC to the party’s national leadership, that fraud was behind the election of Fransman at the party’s provincial conference two weeks ago.
Sotashe said Carlisle was also trying to define who would lead the ANC in the Western Cape. “I think Marius (Fransman) was right to say that the honeymoon was over for the DA. Instead Carlisle must come clean and say who paid for a private jet which transported Zille around the country during the DA’s 2009 election campaign.
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