ANC denies official was involved in cash heists
THE ANC has moved to defend its Free State deputy chairperson, William Bulwane, after his car was confiscated by the police following its involvement in one of the latest cash-in-transit heists.
Bulwane’s BMW X5 was stopped by the police last Wednesday in Bloemfontein, and in it they found rifles, ammunition, and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Yesterday, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the party’s top brass had sought an explanation from Bulwane regarding the incident, and they now believed his car was used by criminals without his knowledge.
“He has explained that his car was involved in quite a serious accident. His insurance company identified a panel beater in the Free State and sent the car to that panel beater. The car has been there since May,” Duarte said.
“This person used this car for illegal activities. The person has said to the police that Bulwane is not involved in this.
“Bulwane has made a statement to the Hawks, and we believe that he is actually not involved in the cash-in-transit heists. His car was misused by a criminal,” Duarte added.
Last month, the party fired one of its Luthuli House staffers, Velile Present, after he was arrested for alleged involvement in cash-in-transit heists.
Duarte said Present had embarrassed the party and abused the trust he enjoyed while he worked at the party’s headquarters.
“We must express our disappointment that someone that we took into our home here at Luthuli House as a volunteer sought to abuse our trust, and was found in possession of equipment and other material that suggested that he may be involved in cash-in-transit heists,” Duarte said.
She added Present had written to the party, accusing it of peddling false allegations against him after it fired him.
“We must say that we are not accusing him. We simply dismissed him on the basis of what was found in his possession,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ANC’s national working committee, which sat on Monday, reiterated the party’s call for the Constitution to be amended to enable the expropriation of land without compensation.
Duarte dismissed the accusation that the party’s frantic move to back the constitutional changes was a political manoeuvre to avoid being overtaken by the EFF on the issue.
The EFF has been outspoken on the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Review of section 25 during hearings throughout the country.
Duarte said the ANC had been pushing for the land issue over the years, but not in a populist manner.
“Three congresses in a row we talked about this, which means that the ANC wishes to be more thorough than to be populist. It takes a while, yes, I agree. In the meantime, the EFF is borne on a populist platform.”
She said the ANC based its attitude to the land debate on the input made at the recent hearings.
“We sent people to listen, and it is out of that listening process that we came to the conclusion,” she said.
ANC head of presidency Zizi Kodwa has blasted those who campaigned against the amendment of the Constitution to enable the expropriation of land without compensation, accusing them of sowing fear in the white community.
“The fear factor about the issue of the land cannot be allowed, including some of the economic policies that are meant to redress the injustices of the past,” he said.