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The ANC caucus in Parliament has yet to confirm whether the chairman of the home affairs portfolio committee, Bongani Bongo, has resigned as a deputy.
On Monday, news reports abounded that Bongo had resigned as a member of the ANC’s National Assembly and National Executive Committee (NEC) after an extraordinary party meeting over the weekend to address corruption issues in the party and the state.
After the meeting, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa said that party members who have corruption charges on their heads should resign from their posts.
Bongo, who was Minister of State Security under the presidency of Jacob Zuma, faces bribery and corruption charges in the Western Cape High Court. This is in connection with how he allegedly tried to bribe parliamentary legal adviser Ntuthuzela Vanara with a blank check during the 2017 parliament investigation into the state takeover of state-owned companies by the Gupta family. Bongo is currently out on bail.
But the ANC caucus said it has no official confirmation of Bongo’s apparent resignation.
“There is still inside work to be done in the whip boss’s office [Pemmy Majodina]. As soon as those processes are concluded, something will come to light, ”said Nomfanelo Kota, spokesman for the caucus.
When asked directly if Bongo had resigned, Kota said she didn’t know.
“There is no confirmation. We should get a letter. And we don’t have any indication as to whether we have an official letter. We can’t be preventive if we don’t have anything, ”Kota added.
Earlier Tuesday, Bongo was supposed to chair a meeting of the parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs to discuss the effects of the coronavirus lockdown on refugees in South Africa.
The committee’s secretary, Eddie Mathonsi, told MPs, who signed up for a virtual committee session, that Bongo had indicated he was on leave.
As MPs prepared to nominate a temporary president for the meeting to continue, members of the opposition party questioned Bongo’s absence.
Joe McGluwa of the Democratic Alliance (DA) raised an issue with Bongo’s absence, adding that the timing of the leave was suspect.
“Usually when people leave, they give reasons. We know there is this rumor about the reasons why [he is not here]. Can you give us reasons? “
Mathonsi said that when he spoke with Bongo on Monday, he had only indicated that he was on leave.
“He told me he was on leave. She gave me no reason. So I accept what maybe I also read in the news, but there is no other reason except that he was on leave, ”said Mathonsi.
Another DA MP, Thembisile Khanyile, recorded his party’s original disapproval of Bongo being appointed by the ANC to head the portfolio committee.
Bongo was among other ANC MPs with dubious backgrounds, including Mosebenzi Zwane (chair of the transport committee) and Supra Mahumapelo (chair of the tourism committee) who, after being sworn in as MPs following the 2019 general elections, were elevated to high-level positions in Parliament for his party.
“The district attorney voted against the election of Mr. Bongo as president, and it was the members of the ANC who voted for him. So we hope the ANC has learned their lesson … And in the future, we hope they trust us, ”said Khanyile.
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