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By Citizen Reporter

Journalist


Motshekga calls for special NEC meeting to discuss decision to discipline ANC MPs

The NEC member says disciplining party MPs amounts to putting 'honesty, integrity and transparency on trial'.


Following the ANC’s decision on Tuesday to discipline MPs who have confirmed they supported a motion by opposition parties to remove President Jacob Zuma from power, the party’s senior MP, Mathole Motshekga, has called for a special meeting of its national executive committee (NEC) to deal with the issue.

He says the decision to embark on the disciplinary inquiry against the MPs was so “grave” that it could not be left to ANC officials.

In an interview on Tuesday, Motshekga accused his party of “victimising the victims of a corrupt state”, saying the process would amount to putting “honesty, integrity and transparency on trial”.

“The ANC members are victims of a corrupt state, and cannot be accused by the governing party and its government… It would be grossly unfair to suggest that comrades face disciplinary action without looking at the root causes of their conduct,” he told News24.

Motshekga, a member of the NEC, said the estimated 30 to 40 ANC MPs who broke ranks and voted with the opposition had raised concerns by ANC members and society at large.

“The conduct of these comrades give us an opportunity to do serious introspection and to self-correct,” he said.

He warned against the disciplinary process being used to “settle succession battles” ahead of the ANC’s national elective conference in December.

“The position now is not and cannot be the settlement of scores, but the restoration of unity and integrity to reconnect with the people who are the real owners of the ANC.”

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