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South Africa's ruling ANC suspends senior official for misconduct

Xinhua, November 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday suspended the membership of Marius Fransman, former Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and ANC Western Cape Provincial Chairperson, for his misconduct.

The ANC's National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) has found Fransman guilty on two counts of misconduct -- abusing his office for the purpose of attempting to obtain a sexual favour from a female colleague and for making public statements which brought the ANC into disrepute, the NDC said.

"The NDC found both charges to be very serious and suspended his ANC membership for five years," NDC spokesperson Khusela Sangoni said.

Fransman is being investigated by police for sexual harassment involving a 20-year-old woman, who laid a complaint against him when she accompanied Fransman to the ANC's 104th celebration in Rustenburg, North West Province in early January. Fransman has denied the allegation, saying he did nothing harmful to the woman. He also acknowledged that he knew the woman personally.

The NDC said the charged member showed no political understanding of one of the fundamental objectives of the ANC, the support for and advancement of women's emancipation.

As a provincial leader in the ANC, he should have known about the triple oppression of South African women and the giant strides being made by the ANC to accord women their rights and help them to overcome their oppression, Sangoni said.

"Discipline is the glue that holds the ANC together. There is no room in the ANC for leaders and members, irrespective of position or seniority, who show scant regard for the values and objectives of the ANC and who consciously choose to define themselves outside the organization in breach of their membership oath," said Sangoni.

According to the NDC, Fransman deliberately misled the public when he said that he did not receive documents to enable him to prepare for his disciplinary hearing whereas in truth he was given all the relevant documents he needed to prepare his defence.

The charged member did not attend the hearing and showed no remorse for his misconduct, the NDC said.

The ANC in the Western Cape Province welcomed the NDC's decision, saying it has full confidence in the work of the NDC.

The latest development came as the ANC is troubled by declining support due to lax discipline and corruption involving senior ANC officials.

Fransman, who has worked for the ANC for more than 20 years, resigned from the Western Cape provincial chairmanship earlier this year following the sex harassment scandal. Endit