KZN ANC vows it will charge Khoza

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed it will charge outspoken MP Makhosi Khoza with misconduct and possibly behaviour unbecoming of a party member for supporting calls for ANC president Jacob Zuma to step down.

However, Khoza told The Star yesterday she was unaware of the plans to charge her.

On Tuesday, the party in KZN said Khoza was not immune to political discipline. But by yesterday, it had yet to serve formal charges against her.

Explaining the delay, KZN provincial secretary Super Zuma said: “We are processing the disciplinary case because we had to clear various legal issues involved in the matter.”

He said they had already briefed the ANC’s provincial disciplinary committee about their complaints against Khoza but he refused to give details.

Zuma also did not want to confirm whether the charges would be served on her before August 8, when a vote of no-confidence against the president was expected to be held in Parliament.

“We do not want to destroy our case by revealing the contents of the possible charges against her in the media.

“The charges will be formulated and we will make them known publicly,” Zuma said.

He appeared unfazed by the preference of Luthuli House not to bring any disciplinary charges against Khoza and any other ANC MPs who had publicly supported a call to vote with “their conscience”.

According to Zuma, his provincial party was entitled by the ANC constitution to charge Khoza independently.

“There is a particular clause in the constitution that a branch, a region or province can independently take disciplinary action against any of their members, despite the national office thinking otherwise.

“We are exercising our rights contained in the ANC constitution,” Zuma added.

Khoza has been singled out after calling on the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete to order a secret ballot.

On Tuesday, Khoza intensified her campaign against the president when she shared a public platform with some of his fiercest critics, such as the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and Save SA, in which she reiterated her call for him to step down.

ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa, slating Khoza, said he was adamant that the party would not charge her. Kodwa said it was possible that she and others who supported her views were being influenced by some of the opposition parties.

“If we act, the ANC will appear to be intolerant of different views,” he had said.

Kodwa suggested that opposition parties were already preparing “high-echelon positions” for some ANC members who were defying their party’s instructions.