Durban - The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal will first engage with its members who acted in a disorderly manner in Nkandla to see if they showed remorse for the behaviour before deciding on suspending them.
ANC KZN provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli, who has been tasked with heading an investigation into those members who misbehaved in Nkandla over the weekend, said they would start with those who arrived armed and fired gunshots in the air.
They were also looking at identifying those who burned T-shirts with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s face on them, “as a matter of urgency”.
Speaking to Independent Media on Wednesday, Ntuli said they were highly concerned about the instability of the province and nation.
“The issues around former president Jacob Zuma have divided the nation and we are always concerned about the instability it brings not just to the province but to the county. There are too strong opinions over the matter and we are aware that it is more intense in KZN. We are also concerned about the impact his arrest would have. It is definitely a negative impact,” Ntuli said.
Following a special national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Monday, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said disciplinary action should be instituted against the organisers of the mass gathering in Nkandla.
Duarte said the NEC had decided Ntuli and the secretary-general's office had to institute an investigation and take disciplinary action against ANC members who held a mass gathering outside Zuma's home.
She spoke specifically about those who incited violence, breached Covid-19 regulations and violated the ANC constitution.
Ntuli said after a meeting with Duarte on Wednesday, they agreed that in some cases, the national ANC had to step in to institute disciplinary proceedings.
“As you would have heard, Mr Carl Niehaus has been temporarily suspended. That is the first step by the ANC NEC. I know, through my discussions with (Duarte), they are also looking for the secretary-general (Ace Magashule) to understand the logic and reasoning behind some of the utterances in Nkandla.
“We will be looking at those who burnt the T-shirts and fired gunshots. Those with glaring acts of misconduct. We will first bring them in and try to understand their reasons and see if they can show any remorse before we decide to suspend them,” Ntuli said.
Ntuli said that while many party members were flocking to Nkandla, the ANC was trying to communicate with them to dissuade them from acting out of order.
“We cannot tell them not to go to Nkandla because they will go if they want to. We are asking them though, not to act out of order. Don’t stand in the way of the police. Show solidarity if you want but don’t be irresponsible,” he said.
Ntuli said that while it was difficult to identify every member at the gathering, as many were not from the province, they were working on identifying those who performed “glaring acts of misconduct” to be brought in first.
Political Bureau