ANC brings new charges against Ozinsky

The Western Cape African National Congress (ANC) has brought new charges against its “recalled” provincial chief whip, Max Ozinsky—days after a provincial disciplinary committee under advocate Andre Gaum threw out charges against him.

Ozinsky: ‘I can’t stay silent’Ozinsky and ANC MP Ebrahim Rasool were suspended last November after both gave explosive accounts of the tensions in the Western Cape ANC in the Mail & Guardian.

Rasool’s disciplinary hearing, also due to begin this week, was postponed indefinitely.

The ANC was left red-faced on Tuesday when the disciplinary committee found that the charges against Ozinsky did not detail the alleged violation, as required by the party’s constitution.

Witnesses for Ozinsky, including leader of the provincial opposition Lynne Brown and former ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha, did not testify and Ozinsky did not plead before the charges were dropped.

The bringing of new charges is seen as underscoring the determination of the ANC’s Western Cape task team to neutralise perceived factions in the Western Cape.

The task team has come under fire for dissolving many party branches in the province, which some ANC insiders have described as a “disaster”. The outcome of the disciplinary hearings was a further embarrassment.

In his M&G article Ozinsky said he had encountered serious misuses of power by Rasool, whereas Rasool wrote about “the Faustian pact” between some in the ANC and the DA in the province.