The names of those believed to be behind the attack on ANC provincial chairman Marius Fransman will be disclosed soon.
|||Cape Town - The names of those believed to have been behind the attack on ANC provincial chairman Marius Fransman in Oudtshoorn last month would be disclosed in a report to the party’s provincial executive in two weeks’ time, ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said.
The investigation was launched after Fransman’s bodyguards had to rescue him from an angry mob following a meeting to replace the Klein Karoo town’s mayor, Gordon April.
April faces charges of theft, intimidation and illegal use of a municipal vehicle. He and co-accused Raymond Wagenaar, head of the Oudtshoorn municipality’s stormwater department, made their first court appearance on December 23.
The charges of theft and use of a municipal vehicle were laid by the chairman of the regional branch of AfriForum, George Kersop.
The intimidation charge was laid by co-workers.
April was told last month he was to be demoted pending the outcome of the court case, and that a new mayor would be appointed.
As Fransman and ANC regional leaders were leaving the building after this meeting they were approached by a crowd and a tussle broke out.
Mjongile said the ANC had an affidavit from a party member in Oudtshoorn who claimed that the attack was part of a plot to have Fransman killed. The affidavit has been handed to police.
Mjongile said the ANC was also investigating the attack and the alleged murder plot “as a matter of urgency”.
“Any ANC members who were involved will be disciplined,” he said.
April is accused of stealing sand and stone allegedly delivered to his home in Dysselsdorp by municipal workers in a work vehicle.
Wagenaar allegedly gave the instruction for the delivery.
Municipal workers who witnessed the incident claim the pair later intimidated them.
clayton.barnes@inl.co.za
Cape Argus