Former ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni has responded to former president Jacob Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC at the weekend, saying the whole disciplinary committee (DC) process was flawed.
He also said he was horrified that he leant of Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC on social media.
Zuma was found guilty of prejudicing the integrity of the ANC and acting in collaboration with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), in a virtual hearing.
Zuma was initially slapped with a suspension from the party earlier this year after he launched the MKP in December, saying he would not vote for the ANC prior to the May 29 elections.
However on Sunday, the ANC disciplinary committee report containing why Zuma was expelled was leaked on social media.
Yengeni was Zuma’s legal representative at the virtual hearing which the MKP has labelled a “kangaroo court”.
Although it was not yet clear whether Zuma would be appealing the decision, Yengeni had indicated during a television interview that Zuma was not going to take the matter lying down.
He said Zuma was unfazed by expulsion.
“There are so many grounds for an appeal. As a person who was in the process, I can tell you for free what you have heard from the DC and what the record of the meeting says is completely different.
“You will realise that what they say in their statement and in their interviews is simply not true,” he said.
He was referring to what he said were “inconsistencies” in the process.
“One of those is that there was a pre-hearing and there was no pre-hearing. I begged and I never got it.
“But it’s clear to me that this is not the end of the road for Zuma. He is determined to deal with this matter once and for all … He is not going to take the matter lying down.”
Yengeni went into what happened during the closed hearing.
“One of the first things I objected to was them imposing days and times of the pre-hearing without consulting me. The first hearing I attended was on the July 17, where we agreed that at some point, because I was new in the process, I needed to familiarise myself with the details.
“We needed a pre-hearing so that we could take care of the logistical issues … That same evening when I got home I received an email from the same DC that the following day at 12 we would have a pre hearing … I called them to ask what the problem was because essentially they were imposing the time on me … They should have consulted me,” Yengeni said.
He said they needed to respect him and should have asked for his availability instead of “imposing on him”.
He spoke how he received a text from ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula attempting to “intimidate” him.
“I received a text from Mbalula on a Saturday evening when I was at home asking me what I was doing, who do I think I am and I want to destroy the ANC.
“I chose not to respond because I was part of the process … When we reconvene on Tuesday, it was the first first thing I addressed, I told them that Mbalula was trying to intimidate me.
“For him to do what he did was outrageous. To send me a text during a DC, representing the charged member … He went on this rampage to undermine me. But Mbalula doesn’t intimidate me.
“The fact that they also changed the venue from meeting physically to virtually made him (Zuma) feel that they were interfering with his rights as a member of the ANC … Unilaterally they changed without consultation.”
He said Zuma wanted to look them in the eye and face them, but they had denied him the opportunity.
His view is that the hearing was conducted “for optics”, but the decision had been taken to expel Zuma before it even took place.
Attempts to get comment from the ANC were unsuccessful.
The Star