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Cape Town - The ANC's internal turmoil, infighting and factions were making it almost impossible for provincial leader Marius Fransman to do his job in the legislature, he said on Friday.
Fransman announced his decision to resign from the Western Cape Legislature on Friday. He will now dedicate his time to rebuilding trust between the people, civil society and the ANC, he said.
The embattled ANC Western Cape leader has been on the sidelines since he was accused of sexually assaulting 21-year-old Louisa Wynand while they were travelling to the party's January 8 celebrations in Rustenburg.
He was still awaiting the outcome of an internal process against him.
On Friday, Fransman said he could no longer justify earning a salary without doing the work.
“My decision, in 2013, to return to the Western Cape to fight alongside the poor and the downtrodden, and to address the imbalances between the haves and the have-nots in creating an inclusive society, is being curtailed by the ongoing ANC internal turmoil, infighting and factions, and makes it near impossible to execute my duties as a parliamentarian to ensure the [upliftment] of my constituents,” he said.
He would continue to serve the ANC as the chairperson, he said.
“The community wants an ANC restored to its former splendour and I believe that I may better answer my calling by pursuing such an objective. The organisation must unify anew.”
When the party had internal strife and struggles, he said, it was mostly the people that suffered.
“I have searched my conscience; I have applied my mind; I have consulted with trusted comrades, and with my family, and I have concluded that the ANC at all levels is at an ebb in its glorious 104-year history of excellence, indicated by internal strife and contradictory statements.”
He joined the ANC to serve and to do so with pride and dignity, he said.
“I have reflected on the 'Reconstruction and Development' and the 'Ready To Govern' documents prior to 1994, and I have realised how far we have drifted from it.”
