Disgraced ANC Women's League president Bathabile Dlamini is fighting efforts to remove her from the post by arguing that her crime was not serious enough to warrant such action, two of her senior allies say.
Dlamini is due to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa and the rest of the ANC top six — except secretary-general Ace Magashule, who is himself on suspension — tomorrow, when she will be asked to explain why she did not step aside after she was found guilty of perjury.
On Friday Dlamini, who lied under oath while she was minister of social development, was sentenced to four years in prison, half suspended, with the option of a R200,000 fine.
This was not Dlamini's first conviction. In 2006 she and 13 others were sentenced to jail terms of up to five years, with the option of a fine, for defrauding parliament's travel voucher system.
She was not removed as an MP at the time because her sentence did not exceed a five-year jail term, and had the option of a fine.
This is the same argument Dlamini wants to use in tomorrow's meeting, according to two NEC members who are sympathetic to her. They told the Sunday Times that she had sought a legal opinion to the effect that the party's step-aside rule cannot be enforced because of the relative leniency of her perjury sentence in the Johannesburg magistrate's court.
“No, nothing is going to happen, she can't be asked to resign because there's a legal opinion saying the option of a fine means she can continue with her duties,” said one.
The other source said the step-aside rules did not spell out what types of convictions would make the policy kick in.
“In this instance the national statute will then have to kick in. They [the top six] will have to consider what 'option of a fine' essentially means,” this NEC member said. “Why would the ANC be punitive when the court was lenient?”
Nothing is going to happen, she can't be asked to resign because there's a legal opinion saying the option of a fine means she can continue with her duties
— Dlamini ally in the NEC
The step-aside policy broadly calls for members charged with corruption or serious crimes to voluntarily leave their posts until their legal battles are finalised.
However, it is silent on the situation of members who are found guilty and given the option of a fine — and on whether perjury is considered a sufficiently serious crime.
Should Dlamini be removed as league president, it would hamper her chances of being re-elected as women's league president when it chooses new leaders. The ANC is likely to disband Dlamini's national executive committee and convene a national conference at which new leaders will be elected.
Dlamini's allies are crying foul, saying attempts to remove her are part of a strategy to isolate President Cyril Ramaphosa's opponents ahead of the ANC national conference in December.
Attempts to reach Dlamini failed; she did not answer her phone or respond to text messages.
The Sunday Times understands that there was a strong push at last weekend's NEC meeting for Dlamini to resign from her position as league president.
ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile, who is also acting secretary-general in Magashule's absence, confirmed that the top leadership will meet tomorrow to discuss Dlamini's case.
He said they will hold discussions among themselves first and then call Dlamini to explain why she had not voluntarily stepped aside after being charged.
Mashatile declined to elaborate further, but has previously told the Sunday Times that in Dlamini's case the party would have to determine if it regarded perjury as a serious crime.
“Normally what we do is allow a member to come to us. Remember, the guidelines are saying you must do it voluntarily. But if you don’t, you appear before the officials, you explain yourself. The officials then take a decision ... that you should step aside or even resign once convicted in a court of law,” said Mashatile.
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