ANC member Tony Yengeni has become the latest member of the party to be barred from contesting for the party’s national executive committee (NEC) positions, due to his fraud conviction.
The chairperson of the ANC’s electoral committee, Kgalema Motlanthe sent the letter to Yengeni on Friday, informing him that he will not be eligible for any position at the party’s 55th elective conference, which begins next weekend after a vetting process.
This after the ruling party during it’s 54th elective conference in 2017 declared members who were convicted of serious crimes could not stand for high positions.
“The vetting information at our disposal reveals that you have a historical record of being found guilty of a serious crime in court of law for which the prison sentence had been more than six months.
“To be specific, you are summarily disqualified as a candidate for all NEC positions including additional members during the 55th national conference as per following the rules which have been approved by the NEC,” said Motlanthe in the letter.
This comes after former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini was also disqualified from the ANC position last week, after the party said her conviction on charges of perjury and sentence of four years or a fine of R200 000 imposed against her, made her unsuitable to stand for any party position at the upcoming 55th ANC national conference set for Nasrec from December 16 to 20, 2022.
Meanwhile Political Analyst Piet Croucamp says the committee led by Motlanthe has helped in the renewal of the ANC.
“The result we see now in the letters sent to Tony Yengeni and Bathabile Dlamini. Of course, the question is will it also sanitise the ANC from people mentioned in the Zondo Commission report for instance Malusi Gigaba, where does the ANC draw the line in the sand as far as corruption and gatekeeping is concerned, this Committee has done more to renew the ANC than most of the things that President Cyril Ramaphosa has done.”
Source: The Citizen, IOL, East Coast Radio, Jacaranda FM, image from Twitter: @heisthemediator