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The Business Day reported on Wednesday a Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor in the Eastern Cape who sent out an offensive email that insulted President Jacob Zuma was expelled from the party.
This comes following a disciplinary hearing over the case. DA provincial leader Athol Trollip said the hearing was attended by councillor Stanford Slabbert and the legal representative defending him, with the DA providing a prosecution and a disciplinary hearing panel.
In June, the DA suspended Slabbert for sending an email saying Zuma had more wives than brain cells.
The email also slammed the ANC for producing "dumb idiots who wait for handouts", according to a New Age report at the time.
The email said Zuma led a country where a quarter of schoolgirls were HIV-positive because South Africans "spread the disease more than anyone else in the world".
According to the Business Day, Trollip on Tuesday said Slabbert "was found guilty of contravening the DA's federal constitution".
DA membership terminated
The recommendation by the provincial disciplinary council was that Slabbert's party membership be terminated after he was found guilty of contravening certain clauses in the DA's federal constitution.
According to the party's constitution, any member including a public representative is guilty of misconduct if he or she fails to carry out his or her duties or responsibilities according to standards set by the federal council.
Trollip said: "The actions by Mr Slabbert are contrary to the values of the DA and are condemned in the strongest manner."
The hearing panel found the content of the email to be divisive, insensitive and containing statements that can be classified as racial stereotyping and racist by nature.
"The forwarding of the email by Mr Slabbert brought the name of the party into disrepute and did not reflect it as being a non-racial party for all voters who subscribe to its principles and values," said Trollip. – Additional reporting by Sapa