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Umkhonto we Sizwe, Spokesperson for the Association of Military Veterans, Carl Niehaus. Image: Felix Dlangamandla / Netwerk24
POLITICS
Gauteng Radical Economic Transformation (RET) supporters group Zuma continues to pressure President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling on the ANC to investigate the use of the money during the party’s conference in Nasrec three years ago.
In a statement, the group said it wants the matter to be investigated quickly. The group includes the spokesman for the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association, Carl Niehaus.
The group accused Ramaphosa of buying votes during his campaign for the party’s 54th national conference, in order to win the presidential office.
“Serious and persistent allegations continue to surface that huge sums of money were raised and used to buy votes at the 54th national conference, which determined the outcome of the leadership elections.
It is a foreign culture on the move in which entrepreneurs raise money in support of an emerging candidate using their financial clout, which has been shown to influence conference outcomes.
Andile Lungisa
“It must be emphasized that the calls for these allegations to be fully investigated and for the sealed bank accounts in question to be opened are not factional and are not intended to undermine the leadership of the ANC,” the statement read.
These allegations have also been made by Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councilor Andile Lungisa, who last week wrote a scathing letter to Ramaphosa calling him to appear before the party’s integrity commission for his CR17 campaign.
Lungisa, who is part of the RET forces, is a strong supporter of former President Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa’s 2017 ANC presidential opponent, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Three years after Ramaphosa’s election as president of the ANC and later that of the country, Lungisa wants him to confront the music for what he says is a threat to the party’s national democratic revolution.
“In the history of the ANC this has never happened. It is a foreign culture in the movement in which entrepreneurs raise money in support of an emerging candidate using their financial influence, which has been shown to influence the results of the conference, ”he said in his letter.
It can be strongly argued that Comrade Lungisa acted in self-defense, as he was surrounded by five men attacking him with their fists.
MKMVA Spokesperson Carl Niehaus
On Tuesday, in a statement written by Niehaus, the group condemned the country’s judicial system after Lungisa was told he has until Thursday to report to correctional services to begin serving his effective two-year jail sentence for assault. with the intention of causing serious bodily harm. .
A group of former ANC Youth League leaders who are behind a campaign called Justice for Lungisa kicked off the campaign with a statement on Monday saying that Lungisa would submit a request to the Constitutional Court to suspend his imminent transfer to prison.
Read: Demonstration to save Andile Lungisa from jail
The courts have been unanimous in upholding Lungisa’s effective two-year prison sentence for breaking a glass water jug on the head of DA councilman Rano Kayser during a heated meeting of the Nelson Mandela metropolitan council in October 2016. Kayser turned out seriously injured.
The Makhanda High Court dismissed Lungisa’s appeal against the conviction and sentence.
Last week, five judges on the Supreme Court of Appeals unanimously found that the two-year sentence fit the crime.
Niehaus praised Lungisa for the courage he “continues to show by being one of those committed members of the ANC who refused to be silenced on these critical issues.”
“We believe that Comrade Lungisa is being the victim of the principled political positions that he defends so bravely. In this sense, the harshness of the sentence he received for the incident, where he defended himself during a fight in 2016 in the council rooms of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Council, is cause for serious concern.
“It can be strongly argued that Comrade Lungisa acted in self-defense, as he was surrounded by five men attacking him with their fists. The presidents’ comment in sentencing in court, that Comrade Lungisa is not an ordinary South African, means that they inadvertently entered the political arena, compromised their impartiality, and exposed themselves to accusations of prejudice and bias. ” he said.
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