Kimberley - The ANC in the Northern Cape said it would continue to support former ANC provincial chairperson John Block after
on Monday.
ANC deputy provincial secretary Maruping Lekwene said that ANC officials would meet with Block “soon to offer our moral support during this tough time”.
“The ANC in the Province respects the rule of law and therefore respects the outcome of the court. Having served with comrade John, we know that he too respects our courts,” said Lekwene.
Cope MPL Pakes Dikgetsi meanwhile welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling to dismiss Block’s application for leave to appeal in one of the longest-running court cases in the Province.
Dikgetsi believed that Block did not have any “substantive constitutional” grounds to fight the matter in the Constitutional Court.
“We are dealing with a criminal matter. Block is a convicted criminal, who has exhausted all his legal avenues. The outcome of the ruling rightfully sends a strong message to all those engaging in or promoting criminal acts, that corruption does not pay. Block has made his bed and now he must lie in it.”
Dikgetsi stated that the inquiry into state capture had shown that corruption was so deeply embedded in the culture of the ANC that it was impossible to uproot it.
“The MECs who abandoned their duties to attend Block’s court hearings and fiercely defended him throughout his trial should be held accountable.”
DA provincial leader Andrew Louw believes that justice has finally been served.
“Block was a front-runner in the massive decline that has taken over the Northern Cape provincial government. The crony society that he created, whereby he and his associates manipulated government business for their own personal gain, came at the detriment of service delivery and the economy.”
Louw was unconvinced that there would be any redemption for the Province once Block started serving his prison sentence.
“There are too many like him who still fill senior government positions and high-profile political positions, through which the looting of the state continues.”