Carl Niehaus ‘officially’ quits the ANC

Suspended uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veteran’s Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus has “officially resigned” from the ANC.

Niehaus shared the news about leaving the governing party on Friday.

Although the ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC), earlier in December, said he had been expelled from the ANC, Niehaus said he was appealing his expulsion. He claimed this meant his expulsion was suspended and he was still a member of the ANC.

‘Sad to resign’

Niehaus said it was with “great sadness, and much pain in my heart” that he announced and clarified his decision to resign from the ANC.

“I know that there are those who will continue with their cheap Stratcom political propaganda, attempting to undermine the gravitas and importance of this decision, by trying to argue that I cannot resign from an organisation that I have apparently already been ‘expelled’ from.

“They know very well that since I have formally appealed, and filed my heads of argument with the ANC National Disciplinary Committee of Appeal (NDCA), the status quo of my ANC membership was maintained, and my so-called ‘expulsion’ suspended until the NDCA ruled on my appeal.

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“To put it straightforward and simply: I remained a member of the ANC, and with this media statement I am now resigning my membership,” he said.

Niehaus said he is terminating his uninterrupted veteran ANC membership of over 43 years, with immediate effect.

“I have already e-mailed a copy of this media statement, together with a short covering letter to the office of the ANC secretary-general.”

Appeal

Niehaus added that he has also instructed his legal representative, Mathews Phosa, to officially withdraw his appeal against his expulsion from the ANC.

“To proceed with my appeal will be illogical, and a waste of time and effort. There is also no need to subject myself to the continuing farcical kangaroo court of the ANC national disciplinary committee, and by extension the national disciplinary committee of appeal.”

Niehaus, while insulting newly-elected ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, also said he didn’t think his appeal would get a fair hearing.

“The trumped-up charges that were brought against me never had any shred of validity. Under that pompous vacuous moronic windbag Fikile Mbalula, who now so farcically emerged as the secretary-general of the ANC, there is no chance that any appeal will be adjudicated fairly,” he said.

Niehaus said the ANC he joined “no longer exists”.

“The ANC of John Langalibile Dube, Lilian Ngoyi, Charlotte Maxeke, Helen Joseph, Braam Fischer, Chief Albert Luthuli and Oliver Reginald Tambo, that I joined 43 years ago, has by design deliberately been killed. It no longer exists. I have not left the ANC, the ANC has left me.”

Niehaus called on other ANC members to also resign from the party.

“I call on all fellow comrades who still share those ideals for full liberation to also resign, and to leave this hollowed out Trojan horse of neoliberal imperialism to implode on its own.

“Which it certainly will! The upcoming national elections of 2024 will be the final death knell of the majority party status, of this thing that the sell outs still try to call the ‘ANC,” he said.

What now for Niehaus?

Niehaus said he will continue his liberation ideals that first brought him to joining the ANC

“Personally, absolutely nothing has changed for me. I will continue to be fully part of the struggle for Radical Economic Transformation (RET), and full liberation.”

Niehaus was expelled by the ANC national disciplinary committee (NDC) earlier this month.

He faced six charges of misconduct in relation to comments he made in the lead-up to the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma last year.

The ANC accused him of bringing the party into disrepute.

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