Marius Fransman has been handed a political lifeline by none other than Number One himself.
The embattled ANC Western Cape Chairman yesterday toured Cape Town with President Jacob Zuma and told the Daily Voice with a huge grin on his face: “I’m back!”
Party leaders told Fransman to “step aside” after he was accused of sexual harassment in January.
But yesterday ANC head of elections Nomvula Mokonyane confirmed Fransman’s reinstatement as provincial party leader, telling Daily Voice: “Yes, Mr Fransman has been reinstated as chairperson of the ANC in the Western Cape.”
She refused to comment on the sexual allegations against Fransman.
Fransman had been accused of sexually harassing 21-year-old Louisa Wynand from Stellenbosch while they were travelling to the party’s January 8 celebrations in Rustenburg.
The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence.
The City Press newspaper last week said it had a leaked report in which the ANC’s integrity commission found Fransman had brought the ANC into disrepute.
The commission recommended that Fransman immediately step down from all elected positions in the party.
Fransman, however, said he did not receive any noticification from the commission.
Yesterday Fransman and Zuma campaigned in Philippi, Khayelitsha Site C and Delft, before attending a late lunch with the Muslim Judicial Council at the Darul Islam High School in Surrey Estate, where MJC president Sheikh Irfaan Abrahams pledged the organisation’s continued support for the ANC.
Former ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool and Judge Siraj Desai were also in attendance.
In Delft, Zuma told thousands of cheering supporters not to waste their votes on the Democratic Alliance: “The DA is the baby of those who oppressed us yesterday. They are the baby of the National Party. If you vote DA, you are throwing your vote in the dustbin.”
The DA has condemned Fransman’s reinstatement, saying the ANC must be “desperate”.
DA Western Cape leader, Patricia de Lille, also slammed Zuma for “race politics”.
“The only thing Jacob Zuma is bringing to Cape Town is racial division.
Cape Town isn’t governed by ‘others.’
It’s governed by proud South Africans in South Africa’s only truly multi-racial party,” said De Lille.
Meanwhile, Mokonyane revealed that the ANC has spent more then R1 billion on preparation and campaigning for the municipal elections on August 3.
The national tally includes the cost of advertising, holding rallies, paying and feeding volunteers, T-shirts and caps and preparing candidate lists.