EDITORIAL | ANC is correct to act on Niehaus, but it shouldn’t be a one-off

THE speed with which the ANC has moved to serve Carl Niehaus with a notice of suspension for bringing the organisation into disrepute would be worthy of applause if it were applied uniformly. 

Niehaus, undoubtedly a controversial and divisive character, rattled the cage when he recently accused ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte of being part of a campaign to “attack” him, even when he was sick. “I am saddened that even the deputy secretary of the ANC, comrade Jessie Duarte, saw fit to attack me. This she did, knowing that when she was doing so, I was gravely ill. It was unnecessary and callous — I am deeply saddened by it,” he said. 

Niehaus was apparently miffed because Duarte, in a television interview, said Niehaus was “not a top leader of the ANC” when asked if senior leaders caused confusion with conflicting messages on the need to step aside when criminally charged. 

The irony is that Niehaus spoke out against the need for leaders to step aside, but his rebuke came from the very leader he was defending — ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, who was recently arrested for corruption and fraud. Magashule, in a letter, told Niehaus: “I have observed, with concern, that you’re involved in activities that create the impression that you act on instructions from me. I wish to distance myself from your remarks.”

Niehaus was given 48 hours to explain why the ANC must not suspend him and subject him to a disciplinary hearing. 

But whether the unity of a faction that was painstakingly put together by Zuma is failing to stand the test of time, or whether the ANC is tired of Niehaus’s insults, is not immediately clear.

We believe this action is not just appropriate, but long overdue. We also believe if the ANC acted with similar urgency to similar, if not worse violations of the ANC constitution and rules, the much-vaunted ANC unity would be within sight. It is worth noting, too, that this is not the first of Niehaus’s tough talk that is worthy of censure. He has, previously, threatened war if the figure head of the so-called “RET forces” in the ANC, Jacob Zuma, was arrested for defying summons to appear before State Capture Commission. 

It has always been understood that Niehaus was shielded from censure because he is a central figure in the faction of those who oppose ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa. But suspicion is raised when the ANC, through the office of Magashule, an arch-rival of Ramaphosa, takes action against Niehaus. Would this mean the Zuma-block, or so-called RET forces, are coming apart? Or could it be that the ANC has simply grown intolerant of Niehaus’s verbal diarrhoea? 

Recently, Duarte has had to explain that she doesn’t suffer uncontrolled ambitions of taking over Magashule’s job, when communication from her office wrongly attributed Magashule’s position to her, thus triggering speculation about tensions between the two leaders. 

But whether the unity of a faction that was painstakingly put together by Zuma is failing to stand the test of time, or whether the ANC is tired of Niehaus’s insults, is not immediately clear. What is clear is that the ANC, for its coherence and unity, ought to hold the likes of Niehaus accountable for the deluge of insults from their mouths. It’s what is required, in addition to getting Magashule, too, to step aside because what he is accused of flies in the face of what the ANC is trying to achieve.