Reinstate Fransman: Immediate response to the attack of Comrade Faiez Jacobs, ANC Western Cape Provincial Secretary in the Business Day article.

11 August 2016 

Dear Secretary of General of the African National Congress.

It is in despair that I write this open letter on behalf of our !Kai Korana people in the Western Cape to yourself and the National Executive of the African National Congress.

Since the colonial occupation of our country South- Africa our Korana people have suffered along all Africans who had to bear the brunt of imperialism, we fought the colonist bitterly and lost our land when colonial policies forced us off our land and onto the Methodist, Wesleyan and Presbyterian Mission Stations. Our dreams of liberation and freedom was born into the dark days of colonial military occupation, but the formation of the ANC in Bloemfontein by the great Chiefs and many men of faith of all races brought hope of freedom and equality under the banner of the ANC.

The ANC represented our dream of freedom since the courage of many heroes amongst other Chief Albert Luthuli and the generations after them. Since then Nelson Mandela and the liberation struggle representing bitter sacrifice and suffering led us to victory in 1994 in the first democratic elections.

Today after the 2016 local government elections, we are greatly disturbed that the ANC who still represent the hopes and dreams of emancipation of our people have abandoned our people and their contribution to the liberation struggle and the ANC and broader ideals of land ownership, our identity, and enjoyment of economic access. We are convinced the ANC is still the only political formation able to carry the aspirations of our poor, landless and disenfranchised people, African,( including  coloured).

The events leading up to the "suspension" of Western Cape ANC Chairman Marius Fransman, set the stage for a major setback for the ANC at the local elections, especially in the rural towns and farm areas.

This morning you will see the Business Day article where Cde Faiez Jacobs, the provincial secretary, blamed our Provincial Leader for the embarrassing loss at the polls. He indicate that that was the view of some in the PEC. This coincide with the City Press article of Sunday where he was quoted and thereafter an "anonymous leader" saying that Fransman are to blame and that people didn't vote and voted against ANC because of him.(But we know how this work)

We accept your authority to act in matters of discipline, but the Marius Fransman issue became a matter of constituency unhappiness due to us as ANC supporters always rallied behind our ANC leaders when they were faced with serious allegations against them. We as ANC members always defended our leaders (more so when there's no charges and mere allegations against them) but now from a public and voter perspective it appeared that a different set of principles is unfairly being applied in the case of elected ANC Western Cape Chair Marius Fransman. The decision of the NPA in North West was not to prosecute Fransman but a consistent witch-hunt within the ANC against him continued even more aggressively.  This confirmed our fears of a poisoned plot against an elected Provincial leader of the ANC, a poisoned plot that will not stop until they have destroyed Marius Fransman.

But, this plot has actually backfired and almost totally destroyed the ANC in the Western Cape.  As the ANC we once again played right into the hands of the DA. Having Marius Fransman out of the arena during this critical election phase basically meant that as the ANC we handed the elections over to the DA on a silver platter.  Marius Fransman was not only a threat to the “so called comrades’ who are continuing to plot his downfall and want him out of the ANC at all cost, but he was an even bigger threat to the DA in this elections.

There were no clear campaigns even though there is a multitude of issues that the ANC in the Western Cape could have run with against the DA run provincial government, the City of Cape Town and the municipalities ran by the DA.  But these comrades who were left in charge as Provincial leadership it seems didn’t know their head from their tail… again this is just putting it mildly. They totally lacked any strategy and they were unable to give proper guidance and support in most part due to their own lack of experience.

For months we have argued that this victimization against Fransman must stop, but your office refused to listen and arrogantly continued to create divisions in this province. Today after the votes have been counted and the DA have won the Western Cape, we are once again appealing to the leadership to reinstate Marius Fransman to his elected office, the continued pursuit of disciplinary measures against Fransman is further fuelling public perception of a faction in the ANC who is determent to remove an elected provincial chair of the ANC at the expense of ANC Constituencies and voter support.

The fact is that under the leadership of Marius Fransman we increased the Western Cape vote to 33% in 2014 an increase of 2,9%.  In his absence now during the 2016 elections we lost miserably and were humiliated!

We also call for an investigation into the conduct of Derek Hanekom as the NEC Member deployed to this province, this comrade went around the province and deliberately tried to alienate people from the President. How can one still have someone in cabinet that openly asked for the removal of an elected leader?

We call on the NEC to investigate those comrades and leaders whom over the last year tried to deliberately destroy the movement for their own subjective interest.

We have always been able to overcome adversity as a movement, the defeat we were forced to concede with, is due to a lack of investment in programmes to take up the struggles of the poor in the Western Cape, no significant campaigning was done in any the Coloured  areas, there was basically no sectoral strategy and engagements.

The sustained disciplinary measures against Fransman will have even deeper ramifications towards the 2019 general elections in the Western Cape. We are convinced that Chair Fransman still have great support in the province as a champion for the poor and demand for the sake of redeeming our lost support that Marius Fransman be unconditionally reinstated in his elected office as Provincial Chairman.

We plead with you and the national leadership not to further ignore the plea of the ANC constituency support.

Greatest Regards

!Xnuseb Melvin Arendse

!Kai Korana Western Cape

Provincial leader