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The ANC says it believes Free State deputy chairperson William Bulwane when he says he had no clue his car was used in a cash-in-transit heist.
It emerged over the weekend that police questioned Bulwane after they discovered that his BMW X5 had been involved in a heist in Bloemfontein.
The ANC Free State leader told News24 he was shocked by the development because he had taken his car in for repairs in May after an accident.
"His insurance company identified a panel beater in the Free State, sent the car to the panel beater [and] it's been there since May. This person used the car for illegal activities. The person apparently said to the police Mr Bulwane is not involved in this," ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said.
READ: Free State ANC's deputy chairperson William Bulwane's vehicle involved in cash-in-transit heist
She was speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday which was held at the party's headquarters after a national working committee meeting.
"His car was misused by a criminal," Duarte added.
Last month, the ANC fired Luthuli House staffer Errol Velile Present after he was arrested along with three others for alleged involvement in a cash-in-transit heist in Soweto.
Duarte said Present, who is still in police custody, wrote to the party claiming its leaders were making false accusations against him.
"We must express our disappointment that somebody we took into our home, here at Luthuli House as a volunteer, sought to abuse our trust and was found in possession of equipment and other material that suggests that he may be involved in cash-in-transit heists," said Duarte.
She added that Present was wrong to claim the ANC was making false claims against him.
"We are not accusing him. We simply dismissed him on the basis of what was found in his possession. [H]e has been dismissed with immediate effect from the ANC," said Duarte.
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