ANC bans Bathabile Dlamini from running for NEC role

Former minister and ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini has been disqualified from standing for the national executive committee (NEC) at the party's national elective conference next week.

This was revealed in a letter the party’s electoral committee head Kgalema Motlanthe sent to Dlamini on Wednesday.

Dlamini was one of the front-runners in the race for NEC positions, making it to number 15 on the list released by the committee last week having received 856 branch nominations.

She becomes the first casualty of the vetting process that is expected to eliminate several other ANC leaders

In the letter, Motlanthe said she had been disqualified during their vetting process which revealed she had been found guilty in court.

This relates to a court ruling earlier this year which found her guilty of perjury for lying under oath during a 2017 inquiry into the social grants debacle at the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa).

The court slapped Dlamini with a four-year prison sentence — two of which were suspended — or the option of a fine.

“The vetting process as conducted by the agency of the electoral committee known as Elexions has revealed that information, which negatively affects your eligibility to stand for nomination as a candidate for NEC positions during the 55th national conference,” Motlanthe said in the letter dated December 7.

“The vetting information at our disposal reveals you have a historical record of being found guilty of a serious crime in a court for which the prison sentence had been more than six months.”

Motlanthe said Dlamini was disqualified in terms the conference rules approved by the NEC. Those rules state that no-one may contest leadership positions if they have been found guilty by a court on charges of unethical or immoral conduct, serious crime or corruption.

Serious crime, according to the rules, is defined as one that carries a prison sentence longer than six month.

Dlamini’s sentence was four years' imprisonment, though she opted for a R200,000 fine.

“We regret to inform you that you have been disqualified from being nominated as a candidate for any of the NEC positions during the 55th national conference due to take place at Nasrec on December 16-20.”

Dlamini did not comment on her disqualification. But in a tweet on Thursday in which she published Motlanthe's letter, she said: "Nazoke the fight is on. You are on the list … and you are told stories after the process is complete."

TimesLIVE