Picture: MORGUEFILE
O R TAMBO regional chairman of the ANC, Thandekile Sabisa, has been found guilty by a disciplinary committee on a charge of bribery.
Sabisa, who is also the mayor of Mhlontlo, was one of the campaigners for former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe in the Eastern Cape.
Last week, he was found guilty of misconduct by his party at a hearing at the party’s provincial headquarters at Calata House in King William’s Town, according to an official with direct knowledge of the hearing.
Yesterday Sabisa said he had not received any notification that he had been found guilty.
Today provincial local government and traditional affairs MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane will table a report which allegedly highlights wrongdoing by Sabisa.
The chairman faced a charge of misconduct following R2 000 he gave to party audit committee members in the region to verify members ahead of last year’s regional conference.
Audit member Zolani Siramza reported Sabisa to the provincial office, saying the money was “irregular, [and] meant to influence and to corrupt him and members of the organising unit”.
Sabisa is not the only one in the O R Tambo leadership who has had to face controversy following the elective regional conference. During the first conference, which was adjourned, regional secretary Jackson Sabona was accused of sexual harassment by a provincial executive committee member.
The case was thrown out by the chief prosecutor due to lack of evidence.
The O R Tambo region is the only one in the province which supported Motlanthe to replace Jacob Zuma as president.
Local government spokesman Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha confirmed that Qoboshiyane would table a report into an investigation conducted in Mhlontlo municipality.
“The MEC was informed of maladministration taking place at the municipality by the chief whip on 10 December 2012. The chief whip indicated the municipality had been brought into disrepute by the actions of the mayor [Sabisa] and the municipal manager in the irregular appointment of an official as well as other irregularities,” Sicwetsha said.
Three departmental officials were mandated to investigate the validity of the allegations.
The report is expected to be presented at 9am today. However, councillors at the municipality have been invited by the council speaker to a meeting that will start at 10am.
Regional spokesman and deputy secretary Lawrence Mambila described the onslaught as a purge of all leaders who supported Motlanthe.
“We as the regional executive are fully behind Sabisa and his leadership. This is just another attempt to destabilise the region,” Mambila said.
