The African National Congress (ANC) has expelled its parliamentary chief whip, Mbulelo Goniwe, for sexual harassment, it announced on Thursday.
This means he will no longer be an MP, nor will he serve as chief whip, said Kader Asmal, who chaired the ANC national disciplinary committee (NDC) probe into the allegation against Goniwe.
He will also be forbidden to stand for public office or publicly represent the ANC for three years.
Asmal said that while the NDC decision is final and binding, and not subject to appeal, it can be reviewed by the ANC’s national executive committee.
The decision had been communicated to Goniwe. ”It was not a very easy thing,” said Asmal.
The ANC has ”acted correctly”, said Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson, describing Goniwe’s expulsion as the culmination of an increasingly controversial term of office.
”The ANC needs to explain, however, why it is that Mr Goniwe has been expelled for his crime before being found guilty by a court of law, whereas the convicted Travelgate criminals are still sitting in Parliament, some of them as whips,” he added.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it is confident the NDC would not have reached its conclusion unless there was very clear evidence of misconduct.
It hoped the verdict would send the message that sexual harassment and other abuse of women would not be tolerated, and encouraged other victims to come forward.
Replacement
Asmal could not name Goniwe’s replacement, as ”that is for the ANC to decide”. Goniwe replaced disgraced former chief whip Tony Yengeni, who was jailed for fraud in August.
”In one sense, Comrade Goniwe [was] the most important ANC person in Parliament,” he pointed out. It was expected that his behaviour be above reproach.
Asmal could also not say whether Goniwe’s accuser — Nomawele Njongo, a 21-year-old administrative assistant in the ANC parliamentary office — would be compensated.
Goniwe is alleged to have asked his accuser to have sex with him after she had helped serve dinner to guests at his home on October 25. When she refused, he allegedly told her: ”I thought you were a real Xhosa girl. How can you say no to your chief whip as if I am an ordinary man?”
Asmal said harassment, particularly unwelcome attention of a sexual nature, is contrary to the provisions of the ANC’s constitution. ”The defence is raised that any man is entitled to make a proposal for sexual relations — but if it’s unwelcome, it’s a different matter altogether… In this particular case [it was] very unwelcome.”
Credible evidence
The NDC accepted Njongo’s evidence as ”credible and acceptable”, Asmal said. ”On the part of the defence [Goniwe], the evidence was contradictory, inconsistent and therefore was unreliable.”
There was a period of 45 minutes, ”we found as a matter of fact”, when Njongo and Goniwe were in the house by themselves — ”it seems in the bedroom” — until she was able to move away. ”Overtures of a sexual nature were made… now let me make quite clear, there were overtures, there was no contact, physical contact … there were overtures, inducements concerning sexual gratification,” said Asmal.
It was on these grounds that Goniwe was found guilty of the first charge — abuse of office to obtain sexual and other undue advantage — under the ANC constitution. He was also convicted of a second count — of behaviour bringing the ANC into disrepute by violating the moral integrity expected of members and being unbecoming a member or public representative.
However, he was acquitted on a third count — of behaving in such a way as to provoke serious divisions and cause a break-down of unity in the ANC — unrelated to the harassment charge, as the ANC was unable to furnish sufficient evidence.
‘Strong prima facie evidence’
In November it was reported Goniwe had been placed on an extended ”leave of absence” pending the party disciplinary inquiry into the allegations of sexual harassment made against him.
”There is strong prima facie evidence that warrants a disciplinary hearing,” Asmal told a media briefing at Parliament at the time.
”There was a statement submitted to us and the statement was very cogent … effectively establishing a strong case … We decided there was a prosecutable case here … and it should go to the proper disciplinary proceedings. Here we felt there was strong case, a prima facie case, to recommend a proper hearing,” Asmal said.
At the end of November, the Mail & Guardian reported that relatives of Goniwe’s accuser were pressing her to drop the charges and return to Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape to face a traditional court. If the court found Goniwe guilty, said a family spokesperson, he would be fined five cows.
However, the woman had resisted  with the support of ANC parliamentary caucus chairperson Vytjie Mentor.
Formal machinery
On Thursday, Asmal said that while there are informal mechanisms to investigate complaints in Parliament, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a formal, transparent machinery to do so. In the case of sexual harassment, he suggested that a specific, female official be identified to deal with such complaints.
In this case, Njongo reported the incident to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete.
Asmal said no action is being taken on allegations that Njongo subsequently received threatening phone calls — not necessarily from Goniwe — demanding she drop her complaint. The phone calls stopped after the matter was raised and it was explained that there could be very serious consequences if any member of the ANC was involved.