ANCYL Provincial Chairperson; Comrade Shadrack Tlhaole

THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS YOUTH LEAGUE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STATEMENT INREGARD TO THE ARREST OF THE PROVINCIAL CHAIRPERSON OF THE ANC.

8 November 2010

The Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC Youth League in the Northern Cape took place today 08 November 2010 in Kimberley in the Frances Baard region. The PEC deliberated around the arrest of the Provincial Chairperson of the ANC comrade John''Fikile''Block. After receiving a comprehensive report around the Intaka holdings case and the charges levelled against our tried and tested leader the PEC noted the case against the chairperson and the charges levelled against him which are classified as schedule five offences. The PEC analyzed the charges and came to the conclusion that these charges are not foreign to the youth league and will soon be exposed. After considering documents at our disposal our view is the following:

• There is no prima facie evidence connecting the chairperson with the commission of an offence.
• The search warrants have also not stated what offence has been committed or is being investigated against the chairperson (if there was any, same should have been stated in the search warrant).
• The investigation has been directly initiated and fuelled by Afrox for commercial expediency.
• The Intaka tender in the Northern Cape was awarded in terms of applicable tender processes applicable in the Northern Cape.
• The provincial tender took at least three and a half months to consider the Intaka tender and there is no basis at all from the documents at our disposal that the board failed to apply its mind in considering and awarding the tender.
• The Provincial Chairperson of the ANC was not an official of any governmental entity when he offered consultancy services to Intaka and thus legally entitled to earn a living during the periods when the contracts pertaining to Intaka was awarded and implemented.
• There is no casual link between the conduct of the Provincial Chairperson with any of the common law or statutory offences to justify his arrest.
• We are strongly of the view that the Provincial Chairperson should not have been subjected to an arrest by now.

The PEC adopted the hands off campaign in support of the provincial chairperson of the ANC for the duration of the case brought before him by the private army of Menzi Simelani and others.

The ANC Youth League Northern Cape is disgusted with the manner in which the national director of public prosecutions advocate Menzi Simelani is handling the case against the chairperson comrade John''Fikile''Block. The conduct of the national director of public prosecutions leaves much to be desired and in fact we are compelled to believe that he is not the only rented dog of a political conspiracy against our leader.

As a militant youth wing of the ANC we have always raised our dissatisfaction around the transformation of the judiciary inorder to advance the objectives of the national democratic revolution. Since the disbandment of the scorpions and the establishment of the Hawks we were confident that all the humiliation that some of our leaders went through will never find expression because the Hawks will execute its mandate objectively and will never operate like a private army of any individual.

What we have witnessed in our province during the arrest of the chairperson of the ANC it's a clear indication that this newly established unit is failing to understand its roles and responsibilities and its preoccupation is merely to settle political scores. There are many other serious cases of fraud and corruption committed by Mickey Mouse leaders of other political parties in the province but the hawks never badge into their houses at midnight to effect arrest.

We want to believe that the Hawks have got a long list of cases committed by individuals who used to occupy senior positions of responsibility and some are now being charged for looting state resources and when they appear in court the state has never used certain sections of the criminal procedure act to deny them bail.

The local reactionary print media in the province under the umbrella of the Diamond Field Advertiser is the official opposition of the ANC in the province and we are not surprised why they are always available to the highest bidder when it comes to the front page coverage.

When Mickey Mouse leaders of other confused political parties appear in court on charges of fraud and corruption they normally publish a small article in the middle of the news paper but when its one of our leaders they report the whole month and the outcome is normally captured in the front page. We are fully aware of the motive behind the smear campaign which is meant to tarnish the integrity of our leader and to subject him to the court of public opinion.

The Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC Youth League Northern Cape offers its unwavering support to the Provincial Chairperson of the ANC Comrade John''Fikile''Block and believes in his innocence and will fully support him throughout until this smear campaign is exposed.

We are of the view that these mushroomed charges levelled against the provincial chairperson of the ANC will not find expression in a court of law because during the time when the chairperson offered consultancy services to Intaka holdings he was not occupying any position in government.

We fully support comrade John Block as Provincial Chairperson of the ANC and as MEC of Finance, Tourism and Economic affairs. HANDS OFF OUR LEADER!

Statement issued by the ANCYL Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee, November 8 2010

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