Parliament - African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Jackson Mthembu confirmed on Wednesday that MP Zukisa Faku will lose her seat in the National Assembly after she was sentenced to three years house arrest for fraud by the East London Regional Court.
“The ANC respects and accepts the judgment of the court and will ensure that it is implemented fully,” said Mthembu.
“In terms of Section 47 of the Constitution, an MP automatically loses membership of the House if she or he is ‘convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without an option of a fine’.”
Mthembu said the ANC would immediately start the process of finding Faku’s replacement.
He added that the ruling party agreed with the court that Faku abused her position of trust when she misused a municipal credit card while she was mayor of the Buffalo City municipality.
“Corruption is a cancer that eats away our moral fibre as society and represents a serious onslaught against the public confidence in its public representatives.”
African News Agency