ERMELO – The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has confirmed that Member of Parliament Juliet Basson has been suspended from the party for 12 months after its Appeal Committee dismissed her appeal against a disciplinary ruling.

The party announced on August 1 that its National Disciplinary Committee found Basson guilty of dishonesty by a majority decision after concluding she had made “materially contradictory representations regarding her whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding her illness”.

She was found not guilty on a separate charge of conduct prejudicial to the party.

The committee accepted that Basson had genuinely been ill and hospitalised and found no evidence that she had fabricated her illness. Those findings were considered mitigating factors when determining the sanction.

The Appeal Committee therefore dismissed Basson’s appeal against the finding of guilt on Charge 1, dismissed her appeal against the sanction, confirmed the 12-month suspension and refused her request for a hearing de novo (a fresh hearing from the beginning).

Earlier this year, Basson attracted public attention after publishing a Facebook post stating that she had contracted “Lyme disease” from a spider bite.

The wording of the post was later edited to refer instead to a “Lyme-like disease”, matching terminology contained in medical documentation she later provided to Highvelder.

In its disciplinary statement, however, the Patriotic Alliance did not identify the illness forming part of the disciplinary proceedings, saying only that the dishonesty finding related to contradictory representations regarding her whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding “her illness”.

In response to Highvelder’s request for comment, labour relations consultant and certified mediator Jako du Preez, acting on behalf of Basson, said the matter has been referred to the Patriotic Alliance’s Founding Members in terms of the party’s Constitution for what he said is a final and binding determination.

According to Du Preez, although the party’s internal appeal process has concluded, Basson is exercising a further internal constitutional remedy and disputes both the factual findings and aspects of the procedures followed during the disciplinary proceedings and appeal.

Du Preez added that Basson has reserved all her rights pending the Founding Members’ determination and said her decision not to comment publicly on the merits should not be interpreted as accepting the allegations, findings or sanction.

He said she chose to respect the party’s constitutional processes because public comment at this stage could prejudice that process and her right to have the matter considered independently and fairly.

Read more about the Patriotic Alliance’s disciplinary findings, the appeal process, the earlier controversy surrounding Basson’s illness, and both parties’ full positions in this week’s printed edition of the Highvelder.

***The featured image in this post has been changed. At the request of the family, the photo has been blurred. The individual pictured indicated that she is not, and does not wish to be associated with Basson in any way.