Selepe hits back at ANC
STANDERTON – Seven days after his sacking from the ANC, Mr Nicholas Selepe came out with guns blazing to slam the Regional Office of the ANC for unprofessional and unconstitutional manner in handling his so-called breech of the code of conduct. He lambasted the office of the Regional Secretary, Mr Joshua Nkosi, and called him a clown after he has learnt of his dismissal through the media.
“It is pathetic for a big organisation like the ANC to run to the media and release a statement about the action taken against their members without any formal notification,” Selepe said. In a joint statement with his co-accused, Mr Madoda Sigasa, who was slammed with a three year suspension, they said that the Provincial Disciplinary Committee must go on holiday, because they are not going to appeal the verdict imposed on them. They say it is an insult to be expelled by a group of corrupt leaders, who are not committed to serve the interests of the masses of this region but put their personal greed ahead of service delivery. They say that the people of Lekwa should decide for themselves. When asked about the charges against them, they said that they were wrongfully accused for being part and parcel of SANCO who marched to hand out a memorandum calling for the three senior officials of Lekwa Municipality ,namely the Executive Mayor, the Speaker, and the Municipal Manager, to step down.
The charge sheet against Selepe states that he undermined the ANC Provincial leadership by addressing the memorandum to ANC headquarters. “They seem to forget that the first memorandum delivered on August 8, 2014 was addressed to the provincial leadership, when SANCO did not receive a response it went the extra mile to engage with the national leadership in October 2014,” Sigasa said. He said that he did not receive a notice about charges against him. “It was only in February 2015 that I received notification of charges against me after the disciplinary hearing was concluded on the 1st January 2015. None the less that could have not changed they intention to expel us.” Asked what steps they are considering, they stated that they are going to start where we left off in 2014. “We will continue to serve the people of Lekwa who have been calling for the three incompetent officials to step down.
Their failure to deliver on water crisis, the billing system and the Eskom bill has brought the economy of Standerton to its knees. Lekwa Municipality is in the state of collapse. They say an example is the disastrous failure of the administrative head, the Municipal Manager Mr Tshabalala who has been declared a failure by the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Ms RM Mtshweni. “We will not rest until the taxi rank at Roikoppen is returned to Lekwa Municipality after it was illegally sold for R100 000 in a corrupt deal.” Asked about their political future within the alliance, they said: “We will remain members of SANCO, and the South African Communist Party respectively. In fact our political future will blossom outside the ANC.” They confirmed their loyalty to SANCO and the SACP. At this stage SANCO and the SACP have not decided to act against the two members.
Mr Selepe could not confirm or deny rumors that they are on the verge of launching a new political movement except to say people have the right to their opinion. Mr Tsotetsi, who was also slammed with a three-year suspension from the ANC, was not available for comment. DM