By Akani Nkuna
The African National Congress (ANC) has distanced itself from controversial North West businessman and political fixer Oupa Brown Mogotsi, who has been implicated in allegations of wrongdoing that include links to organised crime, at the Madlanga Commission.
“Our membership records confirm that Mr Mogotsi’s ANC membership has expired. We now can confirm that Mr Mogotsi is therefore not an ANC member,” the party said in a statement issued on Friday.
It said the allegations against Mogotsi were “deeply concerning, not only for the individuals involved, but also for the communities and institutions whose safety, stability, and confidence are undermined by criminal syndicates”.
“We distance ourselves unequivocally from any form of organised criminal activity. Crime and corruption are the enemies of development and democracy. They corrode the very values for which generations of South Africans sacrificed in the struggle for freedom. The ANC will not allow its name to be associated with those who betray the principles of our movement for personal gain.”
The allegations made against Mogotsi came from KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who told the Madlanga Commission that Mogotsi was an associate of both former police minister Senzo Mchunu and tenderpreneur and alleged underworld kingpin, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
According to the testimony of Mkhwanazi, using text messages found on Matlala’s phone during a police raid, Mogotsi acted as a go-between to solicit bribes to protect Matlala from investigations being done by the Political Killings Task Team and other specialised units.
Matlala is currently incarcerated after being denied bail on attempted murder charges for the failed 2023 hit on his former lover, Tebogo Thobejane.
He was also named this week by the Special Investigating Unit as being one of several politically-connected businessmen responsible for the looting of Tembisa Hospital; the total amount of the extraction is about R2 billion, with Matlala’s companies thus far implicated in over R13 million worth of fraud.
At the time he received the Tembisa Hospital tenders, Matlala was under investigation for a police health services tender worth R360 million, which was ultimately cancelled because it was found to be fraudulent.
Citing its membership rules, the ANC said in its statement that should any individual implicated in criminal activity apply for membership, the application would be processed in terms of the party constitution, “which governs the rights and obligations of every member”.
The party said it would “act firmly and without hesitation against any of its members found to be involved in criminal activity,” referring cases to its Integrity Commission and disciplinary bodies, and reporting them to law enforcement.
“The ANC is a liberation movement that has always placed the interests of the people first. We remind South Africans that the ANC is bigger than any individual. Those who betray its values for greed, criminality or factional interests are not acting in the name of the ANC,” it said.
The statement added that the party would “continue to renew itself so that, together with the people, we can build a capable, ethical and developmental state that works for all”.
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