The African National Congress (ANC) has suspended disbanded Luthuli House staffer Carl Niehaus with immediate effect.
The party’s national executive committee (NEC), which held a special meeting on Monday, said inflammatory speeches made by Niehaus over the weekend while dressed in ANC regalia have brought the organisation into disrepute.
Niehaus, uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA)’s spokesperson is a close ally of both former President Jacob Zuma and suspended secretary-general, Ace Magashule. He was in Nkandla as part of demonstrations against the former leader being jailed.
He threatened that there would be chaos in the country if police took Zuma into custody.
The party in suspending Niehaus did not grant him a 48-hour period to plead his case.
His suspension is based on Rule 25.60 of the ANC’s constitution. It states: “If justifiable exceptional circumstances warrant an immediate decision of temporary suspension of a member without eliciting the comment or response of such member as contemplated above, the [national executive committee], the [national working committee], the [provincial executive committee], or the [provincial working committee], as the case may be, may summarily suspend such member.”
He has made himself the voice of both Zuma and Magashule’s defence force – this has seen him throwing attacks at the ANC and some of its decisions.
In its letter of suspension, signed off by deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte, the ANC raised concerns about Niehaus being allowed to carry on during a period of political turmoil.