Some members of a PAC faction led by Narius Moloto have defected to nascent political party, Al Jama-ah, according to PAC spokesperson Jacki Seroke. Or have they?
Seroke told Sunday World this week that though the number could be minuscule, Moloto was among those who had crossed the floor and was possibly on Al Jama-ah’s list of candidates for the National Assembly.
“I have it on good authority that PAC activists such as Narius Moloto, Bennet Joko, and perhaps Philip Dhlamini have ditched their allegiance to the PAC and have joined forces with the leader of Al Jama-ah, Ganief Hendricks.”
Seroke added: “Ganief told me they are on his list of candidates for the 2024 general elections. This has not been helpful in the resolution of factional tendencies.”
Despite the move to join Al Jama-ah, whose most prominent member is the mayor of the City of Joburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, Seroke emphasised the defection had not affected the unity within the PAC.
“This mission to bring together all disparate forces continues. It is a long term project. It is also a continuous development to hold together all Pan Africanists,” he said.
Seroke added that they had in their possession a letter penned by Hendricks in which he described some PAC members who are now aligned with Al Jama-ah. The letter, directed to the PAC secretary-general, Apa Pooe, reads: “I had the courtesy to tell your president (Mzwanele Nyhontso) twice and Jackie Serobi (sic) once that we have membership applications from what looked like your members (PAC), and they had no quarrel with that (sic).
I believe they are no longer members in any case. We have no intention of distributing information about other parties or getting involved in spats of other parties.”
Seroke said that the defection would not hinder the PAC “proper’s” plan to contest the May 29 elections.
He said that they had satisfied all the legal requirements to contest the national and provincial elections, saying that it had been cleared by the courts to operate as a legal entity.
Dhlamini, who was secretary-general of the other faction of the PAC, confirmed last week that he might join Al Jama-ah.
“I have been expelled and now have the right to join any political party of my choice,” he said.
He said that joining Al Jama-ah was something he was contemplating.
But Moloto said yesterday that he and his followers “were to all intents and purposes still hardcore PAC members but were using the Al Jama-ah platform to further Pan Africanist ideals.”
He thanked Al Jama-ah for allowing them to use their platform to propagate Africanist ideals. He said they were not in politics “for its own sake” but would use the platform provided to them “to promote pan-Africanist ideals”.
He said the PAC has had historical links of cooperation with Al Jama-ah.
Moloto said his faction had entered into a pact with Al Jama-ah for tactical reasons “to enable us to reach out to our constituencies in a more effective way.”
