The ANC headquarters is following up leads nationwide to establish how widespread the doctoring of its bank membership forms is, treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize announced.
In an interview with the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Mkhize described the scam in which a Mdantsane First National Bank official has already taken the fall, as “a very elaborate process to distinguish a normal and a fraudulent form”.
He was on a one-day outreach visit to the Eastern Cape to have discussions with treasurers from all the sub-regions to discuss new ways and means of fundraising for the party in the run-up to next year’s local elections.
Last night Mkhize rubbed shoulders with members of the progressive business forum at an ANC fundraising gala dinner at the Regent Hotel.
The Dispatch exposed the FNB ANC membership scam earlier this year after receiving copies of bank forms with backdated bank stamps.
The dates on the corresponding deposit slips did not correspond with the date reflected on the ANC membership forms submitted on the same day for the same transaction.
The date that an ANC member joins the party is crucial. According to the ANC constitution only members with a specific number of years of membership are allowed to take part in elective branch meetings.
This applies up to national level.
Mkhize visited the region on the day a group of disgruntled Buffalo City ANC members held a press conference announcing their plan to march on the provincial headquarters, Calata House, in King William’s Town today.
Leader of the group, Koko Qebeyi, said they were still demanding that the findings of ANC deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, into membership gatekeeping and rigging, including the FNB scam, be made public.
Mkhize, who is heading the FNB investigation, said the scam was very complex to crack. As a result, only a few culprits had been positively identified so far.
Mkhize said: “It’s very tricky because you need very thorough forensic evaluation. It’s not something that you can say because there was evidence, you can now take a decision. It’s not like that.
“It’s a very elaborate process to distinguish between a normal and a fraudulent form. There is evidence somewhere. We are going to deal with that,” he said.
“We need to get time outside publicity to go into different areas to find out how widespread is this, wherever the evidence comes from.
“Sometimes you need to act on the few so that many can understand that there’s very severe sanction,” Mkhize added.
He said the reason why members complained about fraud and then the ANC did not act, was because by the time their form was sourced, it had already been filled in.
“So by the time someone says there was fraud on such and such a day, you can’t find the evidence because the form has now been filled even if it was blank. When you get to the ANC records, everything has been filled,” Mkhize said.
ANC’s leaders in scam follow-up
In an interview with the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Mkhize described the scam in which a Mdantsane First National Bank official has already taken the fall, as “a very elaborate process to distinguish a normal and a fraudulent form”.
He was on a one-day outreach visit to the Eastern Cape to have discussions with treasurers from all the sub-regions to discuss new ways and means of fundraising for the party in the run-up to next year’s local elections.
Last night Mkhize rubbed shoulders with members of the progressive business forum at an ANC fundraising gala dinner at the Regent Hotel.
The Dispatch exposed the FNB ANC membership scam earlier this year after receiving copies of bank forms with backdated bank stamps.
The dates on the corresponding deposit slips did not correspond with the date reflected on the ANC membership forms submitted on the same day for the same transaction.
The date that an ANC member joins the party is crucial. According to the ANC constitution only members with a specific number of years of membership are allowed to take part in elective branch meetings.
This applies up to national level.
Mkhize visited the region on the day a group of disgruntled Buffalo City ANC members held a press conference announcing their plan to march on the provincial headquarters, Calata House, in King William’s Town today.
Leader of the group, Koko Qebeyi, said they were still demanding that the findings of ANC deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, into membership gatekeeping and rigging, including the FNB scam, be made public.
Mkhize, who is heading the FNB investigation, said the scam was very complex to crack. As a result, only a few culprits had been positively identified so far.
Mkhize said: “It’s very tricky because you need very thorough forensic evaluation. It’s not something that you can say because there was evidence, you can now take a decision. It’s not like that.
“It’s a very elaborate process to distinguish between a normal and a fraudulent form. There is evidence somewhere. We are going to deal with that,” he said.
“We need to get time outside publicity to go into different areas to find out how widespread is this, wherever the evidence comes from.
“Sometimes you need to act on the few so that many can understand that there’s very severe sanction,” Mkhize added.
He said the reason why members complained about fraud and then the ANC did not act, was because by the time their form was sourced, it had already been filled in.
“So by the time someone says there was fraud on such and such a day, you can’t find the evidence because the form has now been filled even if it was blank. When you get to the ANC records, everything has been filled,” Mkhize said.
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