By Thokozani Mtshali
The African National Congress sought to distance itself on Monday from its former member of parliament who is in jail for failing to pay a R40 000 fine after being convicted in the Travelgate scam.
ANC MP Pamela Mnandi of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal was one of the five MPs who pleaded guilty of defrauding parliament.
She was fined R40 000, which she had to pay in eight monthly instalments of R5 000, but she only made one payment.
About 20 other MPs, most of whom belong to the ANC, are facing charges of fraud in the Cape Town magistrate's court for manipulating the travel voucher system to make parliament pay for trips that were never made or made by non-MPs.
Mnandi and four others, among them Ruth Bhengu, also of KZN, resigned their seats in parliament in August last year.
It is believed that they were instructed to resign by the party's national leadership, who sought to appease Jacob Zuma s supporters who questioned Zuma s dismissal from the government while the party had convicted MPs sitting on its benches.
Last year, the five said they were advised by the ANC to plead guilty so that they could be fined and be able to retain their parliamentary seats, but this changed as soon as Zuma was fired in June. These MPs were subsequently asked to resign.
Mnandi and Bhengu were later placed at the top of the ANC's local government election lists in the Umgungundlovu and Ugu municipalities, but their chances of becoming mayors were scuppered when the media began questioning the ANC commitment to rooting out corruption if convicted fraudsters were put prominently in its local government candidate lists.
The ANC spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Mtholephi Mthimkhulu, could not be reached for comment on Monday but the party s spokesperson in parliament, Moloto Mothapo, said the ruling party had nothing to do with Mnandi and the issue now is clearly between her and the law.
"It has never been an issue of the ANC except that as the party we could not have continued to have such people in our ranks. They resigned of their own will and we reject any insinuation that they were forced to resign because we promised them any protection," said Mothapo.
"There was never any deal between the ANC and those comrades.
"They committed the crime in their own personal capacities and the ANC was not involved."
However, the ANC in KZN defended the inclusion of the travelgate MPs in its local government candidate lists in February, saying Mnandi and Bhengu were reformed and possessed valuable experience that the party needed at local government level.
They were later not appointed as mayors, as had been expected, and it is believed that the ANC's national leadership, including President Thabo Mbeki, objected to their appointment shortly after the media started questioning their candidacies.
Mnandi was arrested in Pietermaritzburg about a week ago and appeared at the Cape Town regional court on Friday.
The court has ruled that unless she is able to raise R35 000 for her fine, she must remain in custody and serve an alternative one-year sentence.