The African National Congress (ANC) councillors at the Lichtenburg based-Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West have officially appealed the party’s Provincial Disciplinary Committee (PDC) decision to expel two of them while imposing a R30 000 fine on eight other councillors.
The decision was announced on Wednesday, by the PDC Chairperson Professor Vuyo Peach that the former mayor and the council speaker Mazwi Morori and Jairos Modisakeng respectively, have been expelled from the party with immediate effect.
Other affected councillors are Aaron Motloung, Koos Rabeng, Shoes Maxhongo, Manti Motsepo, Dolph Ngake, Tebogo Mere, Sibusiso Thamaga, as well as Bafana Nkutha.
Speaking to Newsnote, the group’s spokesperson Thebeitsile Mokoto said that the affected members exercised their constitutional right to appeal the PDC decision, thus suspending its order until the matter has been finalised.
“We wish to confirm that, as of July 17, 2025, the councillors have formally lodged an appeal against the decision with the ANC National Disciplinary Committee.
This action is in accordance with their right to appeal, as enshrined in rule 25.36 of the ANC Constitution which states that ‘any member, found guilty by a Disciplinary Committee shall have the right within 21 days from the date of the public announcement of the ruling and sanction, to appeal against the finding or sanction or both to the next higher Disciplinary Committee,” said Mokoto.
In addition, Mokoto said they are appealing the decision due to inconsistencies in how the decision was arrived at concerning the affected councillors.
“The first point is that there are ten members who have committed the similar misconduct, but what surprises us is that their sanction is categorised in three different ways.
Two of them have been expelled, the other two fined R30 000 which they are ordered to pay within 30-days period, failure which they will be suspended while the remaining six councillors were also fined R30 000 which they are ordered to pay within 60 days period.
But what puzzles us is how the PDC singled out the two comrades who were expelled while others were fined when they were in a similar situation,” remarked Mokoto.
He said the members have since exercised their rights and appealed the sanction.
“I can confirm without hesitation that, after we have submitted our appeal formally with the NDC, we have received a confirmation from both the provincial PDC and NDC that they have received our appeal.
It is important to highlight that, in terms of rule 25.43 of the ANC constitution which states that ‘If a member has appealed against or applied to review a decision of a PDC or the NDC, the sanction imposed by such Disciplinary Committee shall only come into operation after the finalisation of the appeal or review, as the case may be.’
This means that the filing of this appeal automatically suspends the execution of the sanctions imposed by the PDC,” said Mokoto.
He emphasised that the councillors remain full members of the ANC and continue to hold their positions in office as councillors pending the outcome of the NDC’s proceedings.
