Bank fires official for changing ANC member dates

A bank  official who helped some ANC leaders in Buffalo City Metro (BCM) in a scam to backdate membership forms has been fired.

However, the bank refused to divulge the extent of the scheme with Hillebrand saying: “Due to client confidentiality we cannot divulge any further client information.”

This comes while ANC provincial leaders agreed to lift the lid on the Jessie Duarte report on allegations of ANC membership manipulation at five of its regions, including OR Tambo and BCM.

Eastern Cape ANC secretary Oscar Mabuyane confirmed yesterday that in two BCM wards, complainants had made reference to the backdating of bank forms scam.

“In a Duncan Village case, for example, we still need answers as to why some members chose to leave nearby FNB branches in town, and chose to go to Mdantsane to pay their dues.

“This makes us suspicious now that whistle blowers have submitted evidence that there is such a scam,” said Mabuyane.

To get to the bottom of what had happened, Mabuyane said the party had asked FNB to provide the ANC with a list of those implicated in the scam so that their forms were kept aside while ANC work continued with other unaffected branches and members.

“We can’t hold everyone to ransom. Once we get the detailed report from FNB we will be able to say no, this one cannot partake in this BGM.

“We have a September 20 deadline to take everyone to conference, BCM included.

“Once they meet the required 70% quorum, we will take BCM to conference like other regions,” said Mabuyane.

But the Daily Dispatch can reveal today that the Duarte report has been rejected in at least one ward in BCM so far.

Mzwanele Fazi branch member in BCM’s Ward 6, Viwe Sidali, said being unhappy was “an understatement”.

“We have rejected that doctored report and we are going to take the matter up with the ANC’s headquarters in Luthuli House.”

This was after Sidali, along with his Ward 6 comrades Mbongeni Ngcotsho, outgoing branch chairman Bobby Boesaka and Vimbile Mbiqo identified inconsistencies in the report when acting BCM regional secretary Mkhangeli Maleki tabled it to them two weeks ago.

“We flatly rejected this report because we believe it has been doctored. When we asked for our own copy, the acting secretary destroyed it in the presence of two more other REC members,” said Sidali.

Mabuyane, speaking after a provincial working committee meeting on Monday, said members received a progress report on the implementation of the Duarte report.

“We are happy about the progress made. However we note that some people are still not happy, but we will continues to engage branches,” said Mabuyane.