Northern Alliance member, Gary Van Niekerk maintains that he is still the president of the party, despite being voted out in an elective conference held on Saturday.
Van Niekerk alleges that a petition to call for the conference was signed by members who are not in good standing, and that in some instances signatures were duplicated and forged. This as the conference saw a parallel structure elect a new party president.
On Monday, Van Niekerk called a press conference saying he hopes to set the record straight. He claims that there is no new leadership for the Northern Alliance. He says due processes were not followed.
“Was it by a majority vote by the federal committee? No, that did not happen. Two, by the majority vote of the FEC? That did not happen. Three, by 1000 members of the NA in good standing? So, therefore it stands to reason that that could not have been a conference.”
“You don’t even have to take it to court to prove that. No person in their right mind will believe that was a conference.”
Van Niekerk also alleges that the petition was not signed by 1000 members, disputing allegations that a new leadership has taken over.
“They say they have 1000 signatures, now this thing is part of the case. They sent us a copy of it, it’s part of the papers they filed at the time. You’ll find that there is only 945 signatures on there. So first of all, they falling short with 55.”
“I don’t want to be too pedantic about 55 but then we also found out that 80% of those people are not members of this party. They are not members in good standing.”
Meeting called legitimately
Meanwhile, Jappie Janse, the newly elected president of the party, is adamant that the meeting was called legitimately.
He also says they have declared three vacancies at the IEC and that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have 14 days to respond.
“Its a lie. The signatures were not forged or duplicated. Some of the members are illiterate and cannot sign their name. They used a cross instead of putting down a signature, a method that was used when recruiting members to the party.”
“It was legitimate then, why can it not be seen as legitimate now? But because Gary didn’t accept this, we went back to those members and got even more signatures which were signed properly, which took us over 1300 signatures.”
A serious matter
Meanwhile, political analyst Ongama Mtimka say the allegations into fraudulent signatures are a serious matter that will impact the direction of the party.
“It’s confirmed by both sides at least that it must be at least 1000 members and as we understand the side that constituted the conference say they met that threshold. But another thing is, who then organises the events leading up to the conference? Who organises the conference? I wasn’t able to see the NA’s constitution on this matter but it seems that Gary Van Niekerk, according to his media statement, that it ought to be the sitting exec who organises that conference. That is where the legal amenity starts and the potential for this matter to be challenged in court.”
The Northern Alliance has also changed its name to National Alliance in order to contest in next years national election.
The video below is reporting more on the story:
