‘This is going to finish our movement’: Yengeni on being barred from contesting ANC NEC positions

12 December 2022 - 11:00
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Tony Yengeni has been barred from contesting any national executive committee (NEC) position at the ANC's national conference set to start on Friday. File photo.
Tony Yengeni has been barred from contesting any national executive committee (NEC) position at the ANC's national conference set to start on Friday. File photo.
Image: Elizabeth Sejake

Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni has expressed dismay after being barred from contesting any national executive committee (NEC) position at the party’s national conference scheduled to start on Friday. 

In a letter ANC electoral committee head Kgalema Motlanthe told Yengeni he would not be eligible for any position at the party’s 55th elective conference following its process of vetting nominees.

The decision was based on Yengeni’s criminal record. In 2003, he was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of fraud in a case related to the multibillion-rand arms deal.

“The vetting information at our disposal reveals you have a historical record of being found guilty of a serious crime in a court of law for which the prison sentence had been more than six months.

“To be specific, you are summarily disqualified as a candidate for all NEC positions, including additional members, during the 55th national conference as per the rules which have been approved by the NEC.”

Yengeni said being disqualified from contesting was “painful”.

“This is going to finish our movement. A movement I served full time with utmost dedication for the last 46 years of my life. It’s painful,” he said. 

Dlamini disqualified

Former ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini has also been disqualified but has indicated she will appeal the decision.

Her lawyers Tim Sukazi Inc, in a letter dated December 8 2022, issued correspondence noting receipt of the disqualification notice and indicating her decision to take legal action.

“We advise that our client refutes the contents of your letter. To this end, our client intends to institute legal proceedings against yourselves in pursuance of its rights in law,” the letter reads.

Earlier this year, the Johannesburg magistrate’s court found Dlamini guilty of perjury for lying under oath during a 2017 inquiry into the social grants debacle at the South African Social Security Agency.

The court slapped Dlamini with a four-year prison sentence — two of which were suspended — or the option of a fine.

Step-aside rule ‘unjust’

ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has denounced the step-aside rule as unjust, saying it should be amended. 

“Where the problem lies is that the country’s laws say we are innocent until we are proved guilty. The law of the ANC almost says we are guilty until proved innocent. 

“The problem with step-aside is that you are charged, and then you step aside, but three years on, you are still waiting for the trial to start. What kind of justice is that? Justice should be they investigate you once they have charged you and the trial must start within months,” Dlamini-Zuma told SABC News.

She said it is unjust for a trial to start years later and for the case to then be postponed. 

“For me, that is a big problem in all this because if it is fair and just, charge, get on with the trial and get the person to be cleared or found guilty. That is justice. The ANC must stand for justice because if you stand like this, that’s what exacerbates suspicions and divisions.”

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