Jordan saw his disgrace coming

Disgraced politician Pallo Jordan wrote to the ANC offering to resign from all his positions two days before the Sunday Times published the first revelations that he did not possess qualifications entitling him to call himself "Dr".

His resignation letter, which has been seen by the Sunday Times, is dated August 1 - two days before the newspaper published the fact that two overseas universities Jordan had claimed to have attended had denied conferring on him a degree or a doctorate.

In the letter, addressed to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, Jordan backdates his resignation as an MP to July 29 - the day on which the Sunday Times told him that it would publish the report on August3.

Attempts to reach Jordan this week once again proved fruitless. He continued to ignore phone calls.

In his letter to Mantashe, Jordan said he was going through a "stressful time".

He admitted to having committed "two or three" errors relating to his qualifications, but did not go into detail except to say that he always knew that it would "blow up in my face" one day.

In his letter, Jordan said at one stage he believed that the perpetuation of the lie that he held a PhD would be of help to the liberation struggle. He said it was his personal belief that he had never derived any personal financial benefit from claiming to have a doctorate.

Jordan offered to resign from the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) and parliament, as well "as an ANC member in the Cape Town Central branch".

His resignation, he stated, was "not a repudiation" of the ANC "as the leader of the National Democratic Revolution". He said he was still committed to the party's ideals. He also apologised to the ANC and its members for embarrassing them. The apology, Jordan said, was especially to those who had been with him in the "trenches" of struggle over the past 50 years in the ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe.

Members of the ANC's national working committee, a substructure of the party's NEC, were told of Jordan's resignation only on Monday - hours before a statement was issued.

Although the ANC has accepted his resignation from parliament, the NEC will now have to weigh his request that he be released from active duty as a committee member.

President Jacob Zuma added his voice this week to those of the supporters who said they saw no reason for Jordan to resign from the NEC.

But an NEC member who spoke to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity said he doubted that the once highly respected intellectual would agree to stay on.

"As much as we all want comrade Pallo to remain in the NEC, I don't think he'll agree.

"How is he going to sit with us in meetings? As an individual of high moral stature ... I think he'll be too embarrassed. His conscience will not allow it."

Jordan continued to keep a low profile this week. It is believed that he is in Cape Town, but he has not returned to his home in Oranjezicht.

He was seen shopping in Cape Town's Gardens Centre just after 6pm on Friday, wearing a purple shirt, jacket and checked cap.

There was no sign of life at his house for most of last week.

Until Friday morning, the property seemed somewhat unkempt. The mail box was overflowing and leaves and branches littered the driveway and the street-facing garden.

By Friday afternoon, the driveway and the small front garden had been cleared and the mail removed.

Friends and acquaintances of Jordan to whom the Sunday Times spoke claimed to have no knowledge of his present whereabouts.

The outspoken vice-chancellor of Free State University, Jonathan Jansen, said he believed that Jordan deserved an honorary doctorate.