After being with the ANC for 43 years Carl Niehaus has been expelled from the ANC Photo Twitter/niehaus_carl
South Africa – Former uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veteran Association (MKMVA) spokesperson, Carl Niehaus has been expelled from the ANC. The ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) found Niehaus guilty of six charges of misconduct. Niehaus has been with the ANC for the past 43 years.
The charges are in connection with comments he made in the lead-up to the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma in July last year. While he has been expelled , Niehaus believes the ANC are going against their own rules and he will contest his expulsion.
“It is a painful thing to have been a member of the African National Congress for 43 years and then to face an attempted expulsion from the ANC. The expulsion is not going to succeed because the charges that have been brought against me are really trumped up and they’ve also been going on for over a year. The ANC’s constitution states very clearly that any charge must be concluded within a period of six months and if it takes longer than six months that charge lapses. So, even just on that technical basis these charges cannot hold water.”
Furthermore, Niehaus argues the NDC has been irregularly constituted. Those who were part of the decision process were not members of the National Executive Committee or the ANC. Members of the NDC should be National Executive members of the ANC, argued Niehaus. Under these circumstances, he believes the expulsion should not stand.
Niehaus expelled without evidence
According to Niehaus, not only did the NDC not inform him directly of his expulsion, they did it without having any evidence against him. There have been countless meetings between him and the committee but at none of those meetings were any witnesses or evidence presented, says Niehaus
“I can also tell you that there have been numerous National Disciplinary Committee hearings one after the other, always with poor administration, with witnesses that were not pitching. Mr Fikile Mbalula was supposed to be a witness in this case trying to state that the NEC position of the ANC is that one cannot say that the judiciary is captured. He didn’t appear many times as a witness. When he was asked to make a written statement, he failed to assign that state. So, ultimately I was found guilty on no evidence being presented, just an allegation and that is extraordinary. It is truly a kangaroo court.”
The way the NDC has handled the situation, by informing the media and the public before him, is illegal, claimed Niehaus. A sensitive matter like this should have been communicated to himself first before the public.
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MKMVA is being persecuted, not just Niehaus
Niehaus confirmed that he was being charged because of the comments he made outside former President Jacob Zuma’s home. However, the comments made were not his own personal opinion. Rather he was just expressing the opinion of the MKMVA. As a spokesperson for the MKMVA, he was simply doing his job.
“It is correct that the charges had been brought because of statements that I made, not on behalf of myself, but on behalf of uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veteran Association in front of the residence of President Jacob Zuma … Those were resolutions taken by the National Executive Committee of the MKMVA and I carried out that press conference and conveyed that message as the national spokesperson of MKMVA. So, it was not my individual opinion, it was a resolution of the NEC of MKMVA.
The MKMVA has made it known that an attack on Niehaus is an attack on the organisation since he is the spokesperson of the organisation.
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The selective use of the law and being targeted
Niehaus firmly believes he is being targeted by factions of the ANC. He points to people such as Mbalula, Gwede Mantashe and Lindiwe Sisulu having made stronger statements about the judiciary or even worse yet haven’t been charged.
“They decided to now try to expel me while none of these other senior members of the ANC, who have made much stronger statements about the judiciary, have had any action taken against them. So, that’s the lack of justice. That’s unfair and selective justice is injustice in principle.”
Niehaus believes he is being targeted because of his criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa. He claims the NDC had already made up their mind of expelling him before any evidence was presented to the hearing.
“I’m convinced that part of the reason why I’ve been targeted is because I’ve been so clear and uncompromising in my criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa. There was at one point a time when the members of the NDC were talking amongst themselves. They thought that myself and Dr Phosa were not on the Zoom platform and they were saying to each other, ‘Well you know we better move on this matter because the president wants it to be concluded before the conference,he doesn’t want Comrade Carl at the National Conference’. That’s the background. They acted on the instruction, they had a pre-made-up mind. They had already decided what they were going to do because they were given instructions and they carried out those instructions.”
Appealing the decision and moving forward
Niehaus has appealed the expulsion and as such, is still a full member of the ANC. Therefore, he can still attend the National Conference. It is only if his appeals fail will he be expelled. Niehaus does not believe he will receive a fair trial. He firmly believes the committee have made up their mind and unless Ramaphosa is voted out at the National Elective Conference, his fate is sealed.
However, even if Ramaphosa remains as the President of the ANC, Niehaus will continue to be in the political world. To him, the fight for a fair and a democratic South Africa is not over and even being expelled from the ANC will not stop him from engaging in politics.
“I certainly will have a place in politics. My commitment to South Africa and to the full liberation of our people is not simply defined by the African National Congress.”
The NDC said the evidence presenter at Niehaus’s hearing had recommended a five-year suspension to give him time to “be rehabilitated” and to “reflect and change his behaviour”. However, they believed Niehaus not showing “any remorse for his misconduct convinced the NDC that he was not capable of being rehabilitated”.
The ANC have not commented on the matter of the NDC ruling and Niehaus statement regarding the matter.
