A Cape High Court judge on Tuesday reversed the suspensions of six senior members of the United Democratic Movement, saying the party had not followed its own constitution.
The six, two MPs and four members of provincial legislatures, include the deputy president of the party, Malizole Diko.
They were suspended by the party’s national office management committee (NOMC) on August 5 amid suspicions that they intended to defect to the African National Congress when the floor-crossing window opens on Thursday.
They had initially been offered a choice between accepting permanent redeployment or being expelled; then, in a compromise put forward by UDM president Bantu Holomisa, the option of stepping down from their seats on the understanding that they would be reinstated after the window.
They rejected all of the proposals.
Judge Basheer Waglay ruled on Tuesday that though the NOMC did in terms of the UDM constitution have a ”sole and unfettered” discretion to suspend the six, it could do so only on receipt of a written complaint from the party’s secretary general.
No such complaint was received, he said.
Waglay said the UDM, cited by the six as respondent in their court challenge, had failed to satisfy the court that it complied with its own constitution.
He added that had there, in fact, been a complaint, he would still have ruled that the suspension were invalid, because the real purpose of the move was to compel the six to accept Holomisa’s compromise position.
This view was reinforced by the haste with which the UDM had sought to get disciplinary proceedings under way against the six.
Where a political party seeks to act precipitately, it cannot be said to be acting in good faith.
Waglay, however, rejected a bid by the six for an order prohibiting the UDM from expelling them or taking any disciplinary action against them for the next 30 days ”without strict adherence to the constitution”.
He said he saw no reason to prevent disciplinary action, but noted that if the party fails to act in terms of its own constitution and the principles of administrative justice, it will have to accept the consequences.
Diko said he and his colleagues are happy with the judgement.
”We feel that we have been vindicated, that the suspension is and was unlawful,” he said.
”We feel that this serves as a message to political party leaders who think they can do as they please irrespective of what the laws of the country say. One might be president of an organisation, but that does not make him above the law.”
Holomisa said the party accepts what he called a ”balanced” judgement, and that he is pleased the judge did not meet the request for the 30-day order.
He said the party’s national executive committee (NEC), which is to meet in Pretoria at noon on Tuesday, will consider the judge’s findings.
”We will be in a position to debate the order and see what we should do,” he said. ”I can’t anticipate the resolution of the NEC.”
He added that the door is still open to the six to accept his compromise proposal.
”Even at this late hour, the NEC will still consider it,” he said.
The attorney for the six, Leon van Rensburg, said his clients have not received any notice of a disciplinary hearing against them. — Sapa