Former Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) leader Motsoko Pheko has been expelled from the party he joined soon after its formation in the 1960s, the Cape Times reported on Monday.
Pheko’s expulsion was decided in his absence by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) at the weekend. He was accused of misappropriating party funds.
However, Pheko denied knowledge of his expulsion. He said on Sunday that the charges were a fabrication and an attempt to get his seat in Parliament.
”If they want the seat in Parliament they could have just said so and I would have given it to them. They did not have to manufacture things and damage the party’s image,” he said.
Pheko said he had not been able to attend the weekend meeting as he had been busy doing constituency work, as a parliamentarian, in Limpopo.
Pheko is the second former PAC president to be shown the door.
Clarence Makwetu was expelled in 1997 for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute.
The PAC has been dogged by internal problems that have resulted in dwindling support since 1994. Deputy president Themba Godi warned last week that internal squabbles were ”threatening” the PAC’s existence.
An NEC member said the disciplinary action against Pheko was also driven by the impression among the leadership that he was planning to cross the floor in September.
Pheko is one of the PAC’s three MPs in the National Assembly.
He took over from Stanley Mogoba in 2003 as party president and was succeeded by Letlapa Mphahlele at last year’s conference in Qwa Qwa. – Sapa