Monday, March 26, 2018

ANC WARNS MEMBERS AGAINST USING PARTY STRUCTURES TO BACK STATE CAPTURE ACCUSED
The ANC’s Ace Magashule says that individual members of the party and society have the right to express their sympathy and solidarity with the affected persons but urged its members not to do so through its structures.

Graig-Lee  Smith
Eyewitness News

CAPE TOWN – The African National Congress (ANC) has urged members of the party to support those who may find themselves in trouble with the law over state capture or corruption allegations to do so in their private capacity and not through any official ANC structures.

The ANC’s secretary-general Ace Magashule says that individual members of the party and society have the right to express their sympathy and solidarity with the affected persons but urged its members not to do so through its structures, such as the Women’s League, Youth League or the MK Veteran’s League.

The party top decision-making body, the national executive committee, says that it has prioritised unity and the rebuilding of all its structures.

At a media briefing held after its two-day meeting in Cape Town, most journalists asked about the legal woes of former President Jacob Zuma.

Earlier this month, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that former President Zuma will be prosecuted and yesterday a summons was issued against him to appear in court on 6 April.

In the latest damming allegation against the former president, City Press reported he had allegedly accepted a R1 million bribe from the head of an abalone firm in the Western Cape.

Secretary-general Ace Magashule says the NEC did not discuss any legal matters relating to the former president.

“No we haven’t discussed any president or former president Zuma.”

In a statement issued after the meeting, the ANC reiterated its belief that people were innocent until proven guilty but urged its supporters not to display party paraphernalia in support of accused persons, nor to do so through any official party structures.

This happened after the last trial of Zuma, when he was charged with rape in 2006.

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