Expelled ANC member Carl Niehaus has announced his “resignation” from the party following the conclusion of the party’s national elective conference, where President Cyril Ramaphosa was appointed for a second term.
Niehaus said despite being expelled, his membership was maintained, and the expulsion was suspended as he filed an application to appeal the decision.
The former spokesperson of the disbanded uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association was expelled from the party earlier this month after being found guilty on six counts of bring the party into disrepute.
The ANC said he violated rule 25 of its constitution, based on his comments at Nkandla and Estcourt last year after former president Jacob Zuma was arrested for being in contempt of court. Niehaus blamed Zuma’s arrest on political factionalism and said that the judiciary was captured.
In his tweeted statement on his “resignation”, Niehaus said: “I know there are those who will continue with their cheap Stratacom political propaganda, attempting to undermine the gravitas and importance of this decision, by trying to argue that I cannot resign from an organisation I have already been ‘expelled’ from.”
Niehaus argued that when he appealed against his expulsion, he was still a member of the ANC, until his “resignation”.
“To proceed with my appeal will be illogical and a waste of time and effort. There is also no need for me to subject myself to the continuing farcical kangaroo court of the ANC national disciplinary committee, and by extension the national disciplinary committee of appeal.
“The trumped-up charges brought against me never had any shred of validity,” he said.
Niehaus originally said he would appeal his expulsion from the anc.
However, on Friday morning he announced that he was officially cutting all ties with the party.
Source: News24, Jacaranda FM, Times Live, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @Patricia_Bantom