Kingdom Mabuza

Kingdom Mabuza

Pan Africanist Congress president Letlapa Mphahlele says he will not replace party members who are serving in parliament, provincial legislatures and local councils after the floor-crossing period.

Mphahlele has written a letter to PAC members assuring them that they would not lose their seats.

A member of the party said yesterday that there had been rumours that Mphahlele planned to remove all the people who did not support him during the party's elections in QwaQwa last September.

Mphahlele was also rumoured to be planning to punish those who were not contributing the required 10percent of their salaries to the party.

Part of the rumour was that he would put people loyal to him in those positions.

A PAC member who leaked the letter to Sowetan said members who are public representatives have been holding secret meetings to analyse the situation, particularly in the light of the sacking of former president Motsoko Pheko.

"We're getting confusing messages from people who claim to know of a plan to remove most of us who never supported the president during the congress," said the member.

Mphahlele wrote in the letter that rumours of a purge were baseless and he felt it was his duty to clarify the matter.

"In my inaugural address as president, I stated that nobody would be removed from his or her seat for not having campaigned for me.

"I have kept my pledge to retain MPs, MPLs and councillors in their seats. Dr Pheko's case is an exception as his future in the party is uncertain," Mphahlele said in the letter.

Pheko, who had resorted to legal action to protect his position in parliament, is among politicians likely to cross the floor.