High-ranking ANC members in KZN arrested after paying a bribe to DA councillor

The minute money exchanged hands, members of the Hawks swooped down on three high-ranking members of the ANC, who were taken into custody and then charged with corruption at the Vryheid police station, Vryheid Herald  reports.

The ANC members (two of them holding important positions in the AbaQulusi Council) were allegedly caught red-handed paying a bribe to DA councillor, Magda Viktor, this afternoon.

DA provincial leader, Zwakele Mncwango, said that the DA councillor had been approached by the ANC members who wished to bring a vote of no confidence against the IFP speaker of AbaQulusi, Michael Khumalo, at a council meeting that was supposed to have taken place today.

“They initially offered her R40 000 to either vote with the ANC against the speaker, or to remain absent from the meeting. They later decreased the amount of money offered to her but promised that she would be taken care off if she lost her position in the DA,” said Mr Mncwango.

In AbaQulusi, the IFP, DA, and EFF have a co-governance relationship in place to rule the council, but, together, they still only hold the majority from the ANC by two seats.

Cllr Viktor immediately alerted Mr Mncwango about the ANC’s proposition and they contacted the Hawks so that when she was handed R20 000 in cash at Vryheid Junction today, the Hawks were ready to take action.

“This is a real breakthrough in our fight against corruption in this country. If the speaker had done something wrong, why should the ANC have to pay someone to get the motion to remove him passed? It shows that they are just desperate for power. There is no place for corruption in this country,” said Mr Mncwango.

Provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, confirmed that the three ANC members were arrested and had been charged with corruption. He said that they will spend the night in the holding cells and appear at the Vryheid Magistrates Court tomorrow morning. The Vryheid Herald will only be in a position to reveal the identities of the three who have been arrested, once they have appeared before the magistrate tomorrow.