African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Jessie Duarte said on Tuesday the ANC will continue to assist embattled party cadre Carl Niehaus to rebuild his life.
This follows Friday’s report in the Mail & Guardian, which confronted Niehaus with allegations that he owed hundreds of thousands of rands to politicians and influential businessmen, and committed fraud while working for the Gauteng government. A tearful Niehaus admitted to the paper that he:
- Forged signatures while he was chief executive of the Gauteng Economic Development Agency (Geda) before resigning in December 2005;
- Borrowed money over a six-year period from some of the brightest stars of the ANC and business galaxy, much of which he has not paid back;
- Asked to be connected to Brett Kebble because he was ”desperate for financial help”;
- Had to leave a top job at Deloitte & Touche in 2003 after his financial woes became embarrassing;
- Had to repay R24 000 to Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane when he left his job there under a cloud in 2004.
Niehaus offered to resign from his position as spokesperson on Friday following the M&G report.
”Something like this becoming public … obviously must have consequences for me and … I accept that the ANC will decide about my future,” Niehaus told SAfm.
”I have written a message this morning [Friday] to the secretary general and the treasury general of the ANC and I have offered my resignation.
”I’ve always been employed by the ANC and I’ve always accepted the discipline of the ANC. The ANC is not an organisation for me which I consider just to be an organisation. It is my family. It is the organisation I love and I will never do anything deliberately to damage this organisation and I will always accept its discipline.”
The ANC on Friday said it would not abandon Niehaus, and while it accepted his resignation as spokesperson, it would redeploy him within the organisation.
However, on Tuesday the party said he would be granted leave of absence to sort out his financial woes.
”The NWC [national working committee] considered media reports on the personal financial situation of Carl Niehaus and he has been granted a leave of absence from the ANC to enable him to resolve his personal financial matters,” said Duarte in a statement following a meeting of the party’s NWC on Monday.
”The ANC will continue to assist Niehaus to rebuild his life.”
”The ANC is committed to good governance and remains determined to stamp out all forms of corruption. Any allegations of criminal conduct should be dealt with in terms of the law and due legal process,” Duarte added.
‘Tolerance and peace’
The NWC meeting also assessed the progress of the party’s 2009 election campaign.
Duarte said the NWC received a report on a meeting between party president Jacob Zuma and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
”The NWC welcomed the meeting and endorsed the message that came out of the meeting, which urged tolerance and peace throughout the election period and beyond,” she said.
The party reiterated its commitment to work with the IFP and other parties to ensure a free and fair election.
This followed some incidents of political intolerance in KwaZulu-Natal in recent weeks.
”The ANC endorses the efforts of the Independent Electoral Commission to actively promote tolerance and free political activity in all parts of the country.
”It calls on the police and security services to act consistently to ensure that breaches of the electoral law are swiftly dealt with,” she said.
Duarte said the party was encouraged by the large turnout at the final voter registration weekend and called on all ANC members to vote in the April 22 poll.