The African National Congress Women’s League on Friday said it accepted the outcome of the fraud and theft case against its president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
ANCWL spokesperson Thandi Modise said: ”We acknowledge that an oversight on the part of our president has occurred, and will be a lesson to all of us.”
A Pretoria Regional Court magistrate sentenced Madikizela-Mandela on Friday to five years in jail after her conviction on dozens of fraud and theft charges on Thursday.
She would serve eight months of her sentence in prison, after which she would be required to do community service, magistrate Peet Johnson said in handing down sentence.
She has been granted leave to appeal conviction and sentence.
Modise said: ”We take this opportunity to acknowledge the immeasurable role played by Winnie in the dark days of apartheid.
”That contribution she made together with other heroines of our struggle will remain in the annals of the history of the country. She has made an indelible mark, which no one can remove.”
Meanwhile the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) said it stood firmly by the principle that those who committed crimes, no matter who they were, should be punished by the courts.
”In so doing, the courts must be fair and must show no fear nor favouritism,” Azapo said in a statement.
The organisation, however rejected attempts by some quarters to use Madikizela-Mandela’s conviction as something with which to obliterate her heroic contributions in the struggle to oust the former racist settler-colonial regime.
”Azapo is concerned by the growing chorus by some people to condemn those with so called ‘struggle credentials’.
”Madikizela-Mandela has been convicted for her involvement in criminal activities and not for her involvement in the struggle for liberation. And so the criticism against those with the so-called struggle credentials is uncalled for,” Azapo said.
In a statement issued after sentencing, Madikizela-Mandela said she would resign as MP, as ANCWL president, as a member of the ANC’s national executive committee, and from attendant positions in the party.
”This I will do in the fullness of time,” she said.
Also on Friday, the Cape High Court dismissed with costs her bid to stop National Assembly Speaker Frene Ginwala from publicly reprimanding her.
The reprimand, together with a 15-day salary fine, was recommended by Parliament’s joint ethics committee after it found last year she had not disclosed some R55 000 a month in donations, and a financial interest in the Winnie Mandela Family Museum in Soweto.
Democratic Alliance Chief Whip Douglas Gibson said the DA believed she would be doing the correct thing in resigning from Parliament.
”MPs and Parliament itself have suffered under a cloud because of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tony Yengeni scandals, and the new cash for air-ticket scandal.
”It is time to stop the rot and Mrs Madikizela-Mandela’s departure from Parliament is a good start,” he said.
New National Party secretary general Darryl Swanepoel said Madikizela-Mandela’s conviction and sentencing showed that nobody was above the law in South Africa, ”and that is correct”.
”The legal process must now run its normal course.”
He said the NNP believed Madikizela-Mandela’s resignation from Parliament and other political offices was ”the correct thing” and should be welcomed.
However, African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe said Madikizela-Mandela’s resignation should be immediate.
”We do not agree with her decision as stated by her to resign ‘in the fullness of time’. We believe that she should resign immediately,” he said.
Freedom Front leader Dr Pieter Mulder said the guilty verdict against Madikizela-Mandela should hold the same implications for her as it did for former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni, who was also convicted of fraud recently.
She should follow the honourable course of action and resign immediately from Parliament, Mulder said.
ANC Chief Whip Nathi Nhleko’s office issued a statement saying the ANC respected the decision of the court, as well as Madikizela-Mandela’s right to appeal.
Regarding her political positions, the ANC in Parliament had no comment as ”such matters are decided on by Luthuli House”, the party’s headquarters in Johannesburg.
”However, we have noted the political opportunism of some in our country who, while hiding behind the veil of moral purity, continue to hold personal hatred against those who fought for the rights of the majority in this country.”
A separate statement issued by ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama in Johannesburg said the sentence imposed had been noted and the ANC respected the due process of the law.
”Believing that every person has the right to exhaust the full course of the law, we recognise the fact that she has filed for leave to appeal and hope she will be given the opportunity to exercise her full rights under the law.”
The ANC appealed to all South Africans to allow her legal representatives to pursue the application for leave to appeal, and to respect her right to explore all avenues within the context of the laws of the country. ‒ Sapa