The ANC suspended Carl Niehaus with immediate effect yesterday.
This comes after Niehaus on Tuesday released a statement defying the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) decision to disband the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
Shortly after the NEC announced its decision to disband the MKMVA, Niehaus released a statement saying the NEC — the ANC’s highest decision-making body in between conferences — had been emotional and angry.
Niehaus said the move was unacceptable and the MKMVA would not accept it.
“We are an autonomous structure, and it is not legally nor politically possible for the ANC to disband the MKMVA,” he said.
Two ANC NEC members told TimesLIVE on Tuesday night that Niehaus’s statement was “the last straw” and that he was now considered a “very rogue” element.
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte wrote to Niehaus, stating that the ANC NEC had noted with concern the remarks he made outside the home of former president Jacob Zuma in Nkandla over the weekend. She said the ANC had concluded that he had brought the party into disrepute.
Niehaus threatened violence in defence of Zuma over his sentence to 15 months in jail for contempt of a Constitutional Court order.
The suspension letter also stated that the ANC would be instituting disciplinary hearings against him within 30 days.
“The NEC has also decided to temporarily suspend your membership in accordance with the Rule 25.56 of the ANC constitution pending the institution of disciplinary proceedings,” according to the letter.
The NEC suspended him with immediate effect, as it believed he was likely to continue with acts of misconduct and cause further damage to the name and reputation of the party.
Earlier this year Niehaus was accused of using the MKMVA to run a parallel structure from the sixth floor of Luthuli House.