DURBAN - ANC struggle veteran Carl Niehaus says his party membership remains intact as his suspension has lapsed.
Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday, Niehaus said he would be actively campaigning for the party, starting next week in KwaZulu-Natal where he has been invited by some branches to assist with campaigning for the party ahead of the local government elections.
“I am a member of the ANC in good standing and I will be campaigning for the party. As a long-standing member of the ANC, with 42 years of uninterrupted membership, which qualifies me as an ANC veteran, I am glad that the temporary suspension of my membership has lapsed already a considerable time ago (although I have only today been informed accordingly).
“I am indeed once again a member in good standing of the ANC that I have dedicated my whole adult life to,” he said.
On Tuesday, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte informed Niehaus that the ANC constitution temporary suspension was valid for 30 days or until set aside by the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeals.
“The ANC constitution also set out, specifically in rule 25.65, that a temporary suspension would lapse if a notice of a charge was not delivered to a member within 30 days from the date of its commencement of the temporary suspension.
“I trust that this explanation serves to inform you of your current status as an ANC member,“ she said.
Niehaus was suspended by the former liberation movement on July 7 after it claimed that he had made inflammatory remarks bringing the party into disrepute during the Nkandla gathering outside former president Jacob Zuma’s home.
A letter from Duarte said Niehaus’s utterances at Nkandla had brought the party into disrepute and, therefore, the party had decided to suspend his membership.
Daily News