Khoza and lawyer no show at scheduled ANC hearing

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is adamant that party MP Makhosi Khoza will appear before a disciplinary hearing in Durban despite Khoza saying that she will not face any charges as long as they emanate from an illegitimate body.

Yesterday, the hearing was postponed for a second time after neither Khoza nor her lawyer turned up.

The hearing has now been rescheduled for October 1.

ANC provincial spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli insisted that the committee still had the powers to try and discipline Khoza. Ntuli said Khoza and her legal team had acted in an “unimaginable and unexpected” manner yesterday morning as they were not available on their phones.

Despite last week’s high court ruling, which declared the 2015 provincial conference “unlawful”, the provincial executive committee (PEC) had not been dissolved by the national executive committee (NEC), Ntuli said.

He said Khoza’s defiance of the committee was based on a flawed understanding of the court judgment, which he said had not disbanded or prevented the current PEC from exercising it duties.

He said the provincial structure was working with the NEC to appeal the judgment.

“The NEC is of the view that Comrade Makhosi is charged by the party, not by the PEC.

“The PEC has not been dissolved (by the NEC) and it must act on behalf of the party because the matter that is affecting the PEC is a matter that is subject to internal processes,” said Ntuli.

Ntuli said the committee had scheduled Khoza’s disciplinary hearing for yesterday because during the week, the committee had held discussions “not confined to the concerns about the legitimacy of the process (disciplinary hearing) and the legitimacy of the PEC”.

“They (committee presenters) said ‘we must rather give them the benefit of the doubt, proceed to the extent that we could today, but defer the rest of the issue to be settled on October 1.

“In our view this is a provincial disciplinary committee that is in no rush to deal with Comrade Makhosi, it is a disciplinary committee that is intended to be fair and to be just by ensuring that there is an opportunity for Comrade Makhozi,” said Ntuli.

He said if Khoza continued to be “defiant”, the committee would then proceed and pass judgment.

In the letter sent to the committee last week, Khoza said the committee was violating her rights enshrined in the “country’s constitution, as well as of the ANC constitution” as the PEC had been nullified. “Accordingly it is clear that the invalid disciplinary hearing against me cannot be proceeded with, and that my attendance at such void process is unnecessary.

“All my rights remain reserved, including seeking such urgent declaratory relief as may be necessary to protect my rights.”