Publication: Sunday Tribune Issued: Date: 2005-11-20 Reporter: Jeremy Gordin, Reporter: Moshoeshoe Monare, Reporter: Thokozani Mtshali, Reporter: Angela Quintal

Blood Test for Zuma

 

Publication 

Sunday Tribune
Date

2005-11-20

Reporter

 Jeremy Gordin,
Moshoeshoe Monare,
Thokozani Mtshali,
Angela Quintal

Web link

 

Police investigators this week took samples of Jacob Zuma's blood for DNA testing. This bombshell followed revelations of the case number of a rape complaint that had been laid at the Hillbrow Police Station.

Although two sources confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that Zuma's blood had been taken for tests, police remained silent on whether they were probing the rape allegation.

The latest development widened the rift between the Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma camps in the ANC, whose National Executive Committee was meeting in Essellen Park outside Johannesburg. The committee was discussing, among other things, a report on the differences between Mbeki and his former right-hand man - still his deputy in the ANC.

The rape complaint, laid by a woman at the Hillbrow police station on November 4, split the ANC's national executive committee meeting in Kempton Park yesterday.

The meeting, due to address the rift between Mbeki and Zuma, was divided into camps for and against addressing the publication of the case number yesterday; but although the issue was being discussed on the sidelines of the NEC meeting, by late in the day it had not yet been formally tabled for discussion.

Zuma, who was attending the meeting, has continued to deny the rape allegation.

His attorney, Michael Hulley, said yesterday Zuma had said all he wanted to and there was nothing to add until - and if - a charge was laid.

ANC sources said Zuma was his usual ebullient self and not subdued. He apparently joked and laughed with colleagues and showed no sign of being under pressure.

Those close to Zuma maintain that the latest allegations are part of the plot to discredit the former deputy president and to stop him from succeeding Mbeki as the party's future president. There are already indications that some of these people might be prepared to jump ship.

The so-called "Plan B" would be to back Kgalema Motlanthe, the ANC's Secretary-General, as the future party president instead.

It was confirmed yesterday that the rape complaint (312/11/2005) was made at the Hillbrow police station in Johannesburg by a 31-year-old woman. It was then shifted for investigation to Supt Peter Linda, the head of the Johannesburg family violence, child abuse and sexual offences unit.

The complainant is in protective custody. The woman's mother, who initially wanted the charge dropped, is now standing firmly behind her daughter.

She apparently decided to do so even though the ANC's Deputy Chairman in KwaZulu-Natal, Zweli Mkhize, reportedly tried to broker a settlement. Mkhize has not responded to calls for clarity, although his spokesman has denied the claim.

Impeccable sources have confirmed, however, that Mkhize, who is close to Zuma, was present at a meeting with the mother in Durban.


Abuse

Some ANC NEC members are apparently disturbed that the complainant is the daughter of a prominent ANC representative who died in exile.

Several NEC members who support Zuma were saying, however, that a mere case number was not enough, in the absence of police confirmation on the record, to justify an investigation against Zuma.

Others believed the matter was serious enough and - in terms of the party's constitution - should be discussed by the NEC. Rule 25.5.e *1 of the code, relating to conduct for which disciplinary proceedings may be instituted, refers to "engaging in sexual or physical abuse of women or children or abuse of office to obtain sexual or any other undue advantage from members or others".

The Sunday Tribune has been told that on November 4 or 5 the complainant told Kimi Msibi, a friend, that she was lodging a rape complaint. Msibi, an assistant to Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, allegedly told the woman to talk immediately to Kasrils.

Yesterday Kasrils' spokesman said the minister could neither confirm nor deny this.

Beeld, the newspaper that found and reported on the case number, said it had also learned that the complainant, who stayed at Zuma's Forest Town home on the night of November 2, suffered a nervous breakdown after news of the rape allegation was published.

Last Saturday night the claimant apparently considered withdrawing the charge, and told the Sunday Tribune she had not been raped and also denied laying a charge.

She then sent the Sunday Tribune a copy of an SMS that came from what used to be her cellphone number and which she said she had sent to the editor of a Sunday newspaper: "If u go ahead & publish after me telling u in 2 conversations that it never happened, i will make a public statement tmro saying u insisted on runnin story despite what i said. this is apart from taking legal action."

Just before lunch yesterday, Motlanthe tabled his report relating to the rift between Mbeki and Zuma.

Central to the report was the relationship between the ANC and the state, given recent abuse of state resources by both sides and which has already claimed three top spy bosses.

With acknowledgements to Jeremy Gordin, Moshoeshoe Monare, Thokozani Mtshali, Angela Quintal and Sunday Tribune.


*1  So corruption is not a matter for party disciplinary proceedings, but sexual assault is so.

How so?

Whereas to wit :
In terms of Rule 26.3.2 of the African National Congress Constitution as amended and adopted at the 50th National Conference in December 1997, the following shall be regarded as serious offences:

c.  Behaving corruptly in seeking or accepting any bribe for performing or for not performing any task;

d.  Engaging in……abuse of office to obtain…..any other undue advantage from members or others;

e.  Abuse of elected or employed office in the organization or in the State to obtain any direct or indirect undue advantage or enrichment.

African National Congress Constitution

Rule 26 DISCIPLINE

26.1 All members, without exception, must abide by the Constitution of the ANC, the Rules, the Standing Orders and Codes of Conduct as adopted or amended from time to time.

26.2 Disciplinary proceedings against a member shall be confined to violations of the ANC Constitution, Rules, Standing Orders, Codes of Conduct, or the commission of offences as set out in Rule 26.3, and shall not:

a.  Be used as a means of stifling debate or denying members their basic democratic rights;

b.  Be instituted as a means of solving private problems or as a means of interfering in the private lives of members where the norms of the organisation are not directly affected, unless such conduct itself constitutes a violation or an offence affecting the organisation.

26.3 A serious offence shall be committed by any member who:

26.3.1 Prejudices the integrity or repute of the organisation, its personnel or its operational capacity by:

a.  Impeding the activities of the organisation;

b.  Creating division within its ranks or membership;

c.  Doing any other act which undermines its effectiveness as an organisation.

d.  Acting on behalf of or in collaboration with:

i.  Counter-revolutionary forces;

ii.  A political organisation or party other than an organisation or party in alliance with the ANC in a manner contrary to the aims, policies and objectives of the ANC;

iii.  Intelligence or the security services of other countries;

iv.  Any person or group who seriously interferes with the work of the organisation or prevents it from fulfilling its mission and objectives.

26.3.2 The following shall also be regarded as serious offences, without prejudice to the generality of this provision and the right of the NEC to add to this category of offences:

a.  Conviction in a court of law and sentenced to a term of imprisonment without the option of a fine, for any serious non-political offence;

b.  Misappropriation of the funds of the organisation or destruction of its properties;

c.  Behaving corruptly in seeking or accepting any bribe for performing or for not performing any task;

d.  Engaging in sexual or physical abuse of women or children or abuse of office to obtain sexual or any other undue advantage from members or others;

e.  Abuse of elected or employed office in the organisation or in the State to obtain any direct or indirect undue advantage or enrichment;

f.  Fighting or behaving in a grossly disorderly or unruly way;

g.  Deliberately disrupting meetings and interfering with the orderly functioning of the organisation.

26.3.3 If, in the opinion of the NEC or the relevant body exercising its right to invoke disciplinary proceedings under this Constitution, a member is guilty of the following offences, disciplinary proceedings may follow:

a.  Behaviour which brings the organisation into disrepute or which manifests a flagran violation of the moral integrity expected of members or conduct unbecoming that of a member;

b.  Sowing racism, sexism, tribal chauvinism, religious and political intolerance, regionalism or any form of discrimination;

c.  Behaving in such a way as to provoke serious divisions or a break-down of unity in the organisation;

d.  Undermining the respect for or impeding the functioning of the structures of the organisation;

e.  Participating in organised factional activity that goes beyond the recognised norms of free debate inside the organisation and threatens its unity.

26.4 a Disciplinary proceedings shall normally be conducted at the level where the alleged violation or offence took place, namely the branch, region, province or national, and may be heard by the relevant structure;

b The NWC may direct that the disciplinary proceedings should be heard at a higher level from where the alleged violation or offence took place.

26.5 a Any person faced with disciplinary proceedings shall receive due written notice of any hearing and of the basic allegations and charges against him or her and be afforded a reasonable opportunity to make his or her defence.

b The National Disciplinary Committee shall draw up guidelines for the interpretation of this section on discipline and for the rules of procedure including time limits to be followed before, during and after a hearing.

26.6 Any person found guilty in a disciplinary proceeding, or the complainant has the right, within a reasonable period, to appeal against the conviction or sentence, to the next higher body of the ANC. The NWC may direct that any appeal should be heard by a body higher than the one to which the appeal has been made. The PEC may direct that an appeal against the decision by a branch should be heard directly by the Provincial Disciplinary Committee.

26.7 Penalties for proven violations of the Constitution, principles, norms and decisions of the ANC shall include reprimand, payment of compensation and/or the performance of useful tasks, suspension and expulsion.

26.8 Temporary Suspension

The Provincial Disciplinary Committee, the National Disciplinary Committee or the NWC having regard to the nature and seriousness of an alleged violation or offence by a member, may summarily suspend the membership of any member pending the preparation of a charge against the member and the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against the member. The member shall be informed of such suspension. The temporary suspension shall lapse if no disciplinary proceedings are instituted against the member within 30 days of the date of the temporary suspension. Such disciplinary proceedings shall be attended to as quickly as possible and completed within a reasonable period.

26.9 All disciplinary proceedings shall be attended to as speedily as possible.

26.10 Decisions relating to disciplinary proceedings shall be publicly announced.

i.  The NEC shall appoint a National Disciplinary Committee from among its membership and from other structures of the ANC. The decisions of the NDC shall be final except that the NEC may, in its discretion, review a decision. Such a review shall be regulated by standing orders adopted by the NEC.

ii.  The National Disciplinary Committee shall hear and determine violations or offences on appeal from appropriate organs of the ANC. In addition, the national officers, the NWC or the NEC may refer such violations or offences directly to the NDC. In exceptional situations arising out of serious breaches of the Constitution, Rules or Codes of Conduct, the NDC itself may exercise jurisdiction to investigate and determine a complaint.

26.11 The NEC may authorise other structures of the ANC to institute disciplinary proceedings and to set up appropriate structures to apply the provisions of this Rule.