NDC OVERTURNS EXPULSION OF 14 COUNCILLORS OF THE TLOKWE MUNICIPALITY
On 3 July 2013 14 councillors of the Tlokwe Municipality were found guilty on 4 counts of misconduct by the ANC's Provincial Disciplinary Committee(PDC) of the North West Province and were expelled from the ANC.
The councillors were charged for participating in a motion of no confidence against the Executive Mayor of the Tlokwe Municipality, an ANC candidate, in November last year which resulted in the mayor being replaced by a member of the opposition party. They were also charged for failing to endorse the appointment of the municipal manager in June this year.
The councillors did not attend the disciplinary proceedings but applied to the ANC's National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) to review the proceedings. The NDC upheld the preliminary point raised by the councillors that they were not given the required time as prescribed in the ANC Constitution to prepare their defence and decided, as it is entitled to do in terms of the Constitution, to hear the case afresh.
Both the expelled councillors and the ANC were given an opportunity to file supplementary evidence.
With regard to the two counts relating to the motion of no confidence, the NDC found that the ANC's Provincial Executive Committee charged the councillors some 7 months after the date of the alleged misconduct. This was in contravention of the ANC Constitution which provides that charges must be instituted within 3 months. Based on this procedural irregularity, the councillors were found not guilty.
With regard to the charges relating to the appointment of the municipal manager, the NDC, after evaluating the evidence, found that the version of the councillors was reasonably possibly true and that the PDC erred in its finding that the ANC proved the guilt of the councillors on a balance of probabilities. The councillors were also found not guilty on these charges.
Issued by Derek Hanekom, ANC NDC Chairperson, August 24 2013
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