[Description: Letlapa Mphahlele, president of the Pan Africanist Congress. Picture: SOWETAN]
Letlapa Mphahlele, president of the Pan Africanist Congress. Picture: SOWETAN THE president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Letlapa Mphahlele, has filed an urgent court interdict against National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu and rivals within his party in a bid to prevent him being replaced in Parliament. Should Mr Mphahlele be replaced as the PAC's only MP, it could scupper opposition parties' plans to join forces and to get the necessary one-third of MPs to take the secrecy bill to the Constitutional Court. While he has been opposed to the bill, there was no indication what stance his proposed replacement - PAC deputy president Alton Mpheti - would take. Opposition parties have a total of 137 seats in the National Assembly. The Congress of the People (COPE) had one vacant seat, and every opposition member's vote is essential should they decide to go ahead with their Constitutional Court action. On Thursday, the Western Cape High Court postponed hearing the matter until next Wednesday. The PAC has long been riddled with leadership issues, and is split along factional lines. Mr Mpheti was meant to have been sworn in as an MP on Thursday, but that has been delayed indefinitely. However, former Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale was sworn in as an MP without incident. Democratic Alliance chief whip Watty Watson said: "This is the problem with the smaller parties. They can be king makers or they can create great mischief." The African National Congress (ANC) used its majority to override the opposition parties in April by voting for the secrecy bill. President Zuma has not yet signed the bill into law. PAC spokesman Apa Pooe, as well as Mr Mphahlele, accused the ANC and Mr Sisulu of deliberately interfering in his party and ignoring a court case that confirmed Mr Mphahlele as the party's president. "It is true, that Mr Sisulu has gone ahead and allowed for Mr Mphahlele's replacement, despite being aware of correspondence sent from our party's national executive committee," Mr Pooe said. He said the PAC remained opposed to the Protection of State Information Bill as the party felt that it had no place in an open and transparent democracy. "One must ask why do they want our leader replaced now?" The PAC is divided into two groups. PAC secretary-general Narius Moloto leads one faction and Mr Mphahlele the other. A court case dealing with the matter that found in favour of Mr Mphahlele is under appeal. A similar situation occurred in 2011 when the COPE leadership was under dispute and Parliament would not allow COPE to fill the seat until a court ruling. PAC national chairman Waters Toboti said: "The worst part of it is to discover that the speaker of Parliament has a hand as he was advising the people how to expel the (PAC) president." Parliament spokesman Luzuko Jacobs said Mr Sisulu rejected allegation that he took sides in the PAC dispute. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. George Bernard Shaw<http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/George_Bernard_Shaw/> kind regards Mduduzi Sibeko Distribution Customer Service Coordinator [cid:[email protected]] T +27-11-724-9300/01 C +27-71-101-2595 F 086-754-2176 E [email protected] www.randwater.co.za This email and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential and proprietary information. This information is private and protected by law and, accordingly, if you are not the intended recipient, you are requested to delete this entire communication immediately and are notified that any disclosure, copying or distribution of or taking any action based on this information is prohibited. Emails cannot be guaranteed to be secure or free of errors or viruses. The sender does not accept any liability or responsibility for any interception, corruption, destruction, loss, late arrival or incompleteness of or tampering or interference with any of the information contained in this email or for its incorrect delivery or non-delivery for whatsoever reason or for its effect on any electronic device of the recipient. Views and opinions expressed or implied in this email are those of the sender unless clearly stated as being that of Rand Water. If verification of this email or any attachment is required, please request a hard-copy version. Report illegal or suspicious activities! Use the Anti-Corruption Hotline - phone toll free 0800 212 364 -- -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Pan Africanist Youth Congress" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
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