Brown Mokgotsi is at the centre of the investigation by the Madlanga commission into claims that cartels have infiltrated the criminal justice system through political figures and senior police officers. (Facebook)
Despite the ANC clearly stating that it had no intention of keeping Brown Mogotsi in its ranks, the North West businessman is insistent that he is still a member of the party and will consider renewing his membership.
Mogotsi is at the centre of the investigation by the Madlanga commission into claims that cartels have infiltrated the criminal justice system through political figures and senior police officers. Last week, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula told a media briefing that Mogotsi was no longer a member of the ANC. He did not have any significant role in the party.
“I may just renew my membership and ask the secretary of my branch to step aside so that we do not have this commotion. I have been a member for more than 20 years and I can’t just cut it off,” Mogotsi told the Mail & Guardian on Monday, in response to Mbalula’s comments. He claimed that he still had a grace period for the renewal.
The ANC rules stipulate that, should any individual implicated in criminal activity apply for membership, such an application will be processed strictly in terms of the party’s constitution, which governs the rights and obligations of every member.
ANC rule 4.10 provides that any objection to an application for membership may be made by any member to the branch, regional or provincial secretary. Rule 4.11 provides that at any time before the individual is accepted as a full member of the organisation, or in exceptional circumstances even after the member has been admitted, the secretary general can rule that the application or the membership be rejected if it was obtained invalidly.
Last week, Mbalula described Mogotsi as one of those people who have infiltrated the ANC to use its name for their own ill-gains.
“You can ask yourself that a person who is so low in the ANC, how does he have control and be accused of big things like we are reading? That tells you a story that the ANC has been infiltrated as a party,” Mbalula said. “In a nutshell, Brown Mogotsi is not a member of the ANC; we will never take him to the disciplinary commission, he must account for whatever is accused of with whoever.”
A document from Mbalula’s office, dated 11 September 2025, shows that Mogotsi is on a list of 438 people from ward 16 in Mafikeng, in the Ngaka Modori Molema region, whose membership has expired.
An ANC insider told the M&G that it would not be easy for Mogotsi to renew his membership as it had to go through Mbalula.
“It will be difficult for him because the guidelines do allow the secretary general to decline membership of a person like Brown. With all that is happening with Mogotsi in public, the party will not want to associate itself with a person like that,” the insider said.
ANC North West provincial secretary Louis Diremelo told public broadcaster SABC on Monday that Mogotsi was an ANC member until 2020, but this expired in 2022. He said the party’s recruitment policies require that, if one’s membership has expired, members should renew it within a year.
“If that membership is not renewed within a period of one year, you cease to become a member of the ANC. Therefore, we can confirm that he is not a member of the ANC,” Diremelo added.
During his testimony at the Madlanga commission, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi questioned how Mogotsi had access to sensitive police information and documents. This was after Mogotsi had allegedly sent him information from crime intelligence and also sent underworld figure Vusi “Cat” Matlala messages about now-suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s decision to disband a task team investigating political killings.
Mkhwanazi also claimed that Mogotsi was among those who wanted to disband the team as he thought it was investigating Matlala.
Mogotsi denied any involvement to the M&G, saying this was a matter of state security, and it was not possible that someone like him had the power to do so. He would tell his side of the story at the Madlanga commission.
“I hope that logically you can apply your mind and connect the dots. I’m not just a nobody, I can’t say this but you must be able to join the dots and say how can this guy be able to say this and that,” he said.
Asked about his relationship with Matlala, Mogotsi said the latter was just a businessman like him, adding: “It’s just that he’s a big fish and things they are alleging against him, I may not be able to give answers. If he decides to steal even though I know him, he won’t tell me that I’m stealing. Those things must be processed with him, not me.”