Cape Town - Two senior Western Cape ANC members are being hauled over the coals as the ANC takes a no-nonsense approach to members who violate the party’s disciplinary code.
The party’s provincial executive committee, during a media briefing at Sahara House in Cape Town, said its recently elected ANC secretary in the Boland region, Jonton Snyman, would face a disciplinary committee after it came to light that he had pleaded guilty to fraud after submitting a fraudulent insurance claim for his laptop in January last year.
Snyman did not disclose that he pleaded guilty in the Worcester Magistrate’s Court on a charge of fraud in October last year.
According to court documents, he paid a fine of R3 000 and received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for five years.
ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs conceded that just over a month into their term of office, the PEC had been faced with serious “teething problems”.
Noting the recent media reports involving two senior members in the province, Jacobs said the PEC was “categorically united in its stance to ensure organisational discipline within the ANC in the province”.
Jacobs said during the PEC’s meeting in Worcester on Friday, it was decided to immediately refer the Snyman matter to a disciplinary hearing.
“We continue to respect his rights and therefore wish not to go into the details. We want to be seen to be fair,” he added.
When pressed for further details, ANC provicnial chairman Marius Fransman confirmed that the matter related to Snyman’s alleged conviction on changes of fraud.
“The (ANC’s) constitution is explicit on certain matters, one of those is the issue of a conviction in a court of law on charges of fraud, bribery etc.
“That matter now requires us to go through a disciplinary hearing,” Fransman added.
In the second case, ANC PEC member Lionel Adendorf was reprimanded after a letter he wrote to Jacobs – in which he complained about Fransman’s conduct – ended up in the media.
Condemning any form of leaking of information, Jacobs said the PEC insisted that “swift disciplinary action be taken against any member who brings the organisation into disrepute”.
He added that they’ve spoken to all members about copying other members in on letters for his attention.
“We have reprimanded certain members who circulated internal memos broadly,” he added.
Fransman confirmed that a letter that was leaked related to a letter penned by Adendorf.
“People copy letters to 50 people, when it is (in fact) directed to the secretary. This by implication means it goes out in public. The affected member was reprimanded in writing through the secretary’s office,” he confirmed.
Snyman could not be reached for comment, while Adendorf declined to comment.
Cape Argus