The ruling African National Congress will initiate “relevant organisational disciplinary processes” against its MPs convicted of fraud, says its national spokesperson, Smuts Ngonyama.
Ngonyama said in a statement on Friday following the plea-bargain conviction of five ANC MPs — who must pay fines ranging from R40 000 to R80 000 or go to jail — that the party has noted “with seriousness that five MPs have been charged and sentenced for defrauding the parliamentary travel facilities by the Cape town regional court”.
Among the MPs is a woman who for a period acted as chairperson of the National Assembly finance committee, Rhoda Joemat.
Ngonyama said the ANC has “further noted that for such illegal actions the said members have been meted out varied fines and suspended jail sentences, in accordance with the severity of their misconduct”.
“The ANC takes these developments seriously. In the light of the above developments, the ANC will initiate relevant organisational disciplinary processes regarding all its convicted members,” he said.
He said these organisational disciplinary processes will be executed immediately once the due process of law has been completed regarding the ANC members.
“The ANC also hopes that this whole process should serve as a valuable lesson that will continue to strengthen our democracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said: “There is no doubt that these people have brought the ANC and Parliament into dispute.
“They should do the honourable thing and resign. If they fail to do that, the ANC should kick them out.”
Fines of between R40 000 and R80 000 “amounted to a couple of months’ salary”, said Gibson.
“That is why the DA insists that those MPs who are admitting guilt by entering into a plea-bargain resign their seats in Parliament. If they fail to do so, they should be expelled by their party and thus lose their seats,” he said.
Three of his party members — former MPs Charles Redcliffe and Antoinette Versveld and one current MP, Craig Morkel — are among 24 MPs facing charges relating to Travelgate. They have not entered plea bargains at this stage.
ANC deputy chief whip Andries Nel was in the court when the five MPs appeared on Friday morning. He did not issue a statement afterwards, leaving the matter to the national office to respond.
The Constitution states that an MP only loses his or her seat if convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine either in the republic or outside the republic if the conduct constituting the offence would have been an offence in the republic.
It states that no one may be regarded as having been sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or sentence has been determined or until the time for an appeal has expired.
A disqualification ends five years after the sentence has been completed, the relevant paragraph in the Constitution states. — I-Net Bridge