The perjury and fraud case opened against ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile for misleading the North West High Court may reflect negatively on the leadership of the ANC and that of Mashatile as the newly elected Deputy President of the country, an analyst says.
The case was opened against Mashatile, who was the acting Secretary General at the time, for allegedly misleading the North West High Court through an affidavit stating that the ANC National Executive Committee had met and resolved to reappoint the Interim Provincial Committee, including some members who had either been deceased or resigned from the IPC at the time.
According to political analyst Andre Duvenhage, Mashatile might have no choice but to answer to court.
“I think there’s no doubt that he will have to defend himself in court and taking the process on that level. It will be interesting to see how the NEC and the new top seven will react to this. My assessment is that they will find some way to come to the rescue of Paul Mashatile and ANC in North West trying to declare the conference as a legitimate one,” says Duvenhage.
Duvenhage adds that Mashatile now faces mounting questions about his credibility as a leader.
“This can have far reaching implications for the ANC in North West. I have no doubt that people will ask questions about the legitimacy of the provincial conference and the legitimacy of the people elected during that conference because clearly, from a legal point of view, they are major challenges before Mr Paul Mashatile. This is a typical example of an organisation that is not well manage not following proper process protocol and this may reflect very negatively on the national leadership of the ANC and specifically on the leadership of Paul Mashatile,” Duvenhage adds.
