A member of the Limpopo provincial legislature and ANC cadre Che Selane has gone back on his claims that some of the senior party leaders in the province bought their academic qualifications as pressure mounts to haul him before a disciplinary committee.
Speaking to Sunday World on Friday, Selane strangely refuted that the person making the damning utterances during an interview with local podcaster Fortune Maswanganyi was him.
“Are you sure that the person who was speaking during that interview was me? That was not myself (sic). Play that video now to prove that the person in that clip was me,” said Selane.
In the podcast that has gone viral on social media platforms, Selane urges his host to do a background check on the ANC leaders, whom he labels as dunderheads who cannot outsmart him.
“The reality is that most comrades of the ANC in Limpopo, starting with the PEC, if you ask them which institutions [they] are enrolled [in] or have acquired their qualifications [at], you will find that they are from private institutions.
“Private institutions are there for money and profit. They go there with a lot of money, and these institutions give them those courses,” he said.
Selane said should there be an investigation into the academic records among the comrades, many of them will be arrested.
The podcast triggered a bitter debate in the corridors of power in the province, with some leaders calling for immediate action against Selane.
Maswanganyi confirmed to Sunday World that Selane is indeed the person in the video.
“I can confirm that the person on my podcast is Che Selane. There is nothing to deny there. I was with him and the video is clear. Why is he behaving like that? The interview happened a few days ago and I still remember it vividly.”
Approached for comment, provincial secretary Reuben Madadze referred media
queries to spokesperson Mathole Machaka.
When Selane’s podcast started doing the rounds, Machaka was the first to
chastise him for his remarks. In a strongly worded letter, Machaka demands that
Selane be disciplined.
“You cannot have an MPL (member of the provincial legislature) of the ANC taking on a public platform to undermine and put the organisation and its caucus in the provincial legislature into disrepute. He must explain his utterances before the ANC. Should he be found to have breached the ANC constitution Rule 25, he should be subjected to the provincial disciplinary hearing.”
Machaka added that Selane’s accusations sent a wrong impression about the ANC to the public and undermined the integrity of the party’s members.
“I have written a letter in my personal capacity to the PEC, the provincial secretary Reuben Madadze, the caucus chief whip in the legislature, and Essop Mokonyane requesting the executive to act on Selane’s remarks.”
