UMKHONTO we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus has been suspended by the African National Congress (ANC) with immediate effect for bringing the party into disrepute.
This comes after Niehaus on Tuesday released a statement defying the ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision confirming the disbandment of MKMVA.
Niehaus, a staunch of former president Jacob Zuma supporter, threatened violence in defence of former president at the weekend ahead of his looming arrest after the Constitutional Court sentenced him to 15 months behind bars for contempt.
The governing party’s NEC said it noted with concern Niehaus’ inflammatory speeches made outside the home of Zuma at Nkandla.
It further said Niehaus comments and utterances brought the ANC into disrepute.
“Moreover, you were clad in a shirt bearing the ANC logo when you appeared on television,” deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte said in a statement.
“The NEC has resolved that such conduct was in contravention of Rule 25.17 of the ANC Constitution, in particular rules 25.17.4 … and warranted disciplinary action.”
Niehaus’s suspension letter also stated that the ANC would be instituting disciplinary hearings against him within 30 days.
The hearing would be adjudicated by the national disciplinary committee of the ANC.
Duarte added that the chief national presenter, Uriel Abrahamse, will be formulating and serving a charge sheet on Niehaus in due course setting out details of the charges.
Niehaus, a vocal supporter of the so-called radical economic transformation (RET) grouping, is also a staffer in the office of suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.
- Inside Politics
