'Hanekom tried to kick me out': Marius Fransman

'Hanekom tried to kick me out': Marius Fransman

APHIWE DEKLERK | 2016-09-20 06:49:23.0

Marius Fransman. File photo.

ANC Western Cape chairman Marius Fransman has accused senior party member and Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom of trying to get rid of him from the party.

Fransman is set to appear before the ANC's disciplinary committee over allegations of sexual harassment brought against him by his former employee, Louisa Wynand.

"I believe [the disciplinary process is] nothing but a factional matter ... from a group which Comrade Derek Hanekom is part of. They tried to kick me out and it's wrong," said Fransman.

Hanekom is an ANC national executive committee member deployed as a convenor to the Western Cape. He is also chairman of the party's disciplinary committee.

Fransman spoke to The Times at a Heritage Day event in Cape Town, where he was a guest speaker.

The hearing was set to start on Sunday and conclude yesterday, but ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said it had been postponed after Fransman wrote to the national disciplinary committee appeals body.

When Wynand made the allegations Fransman was asked to step aside as provincial leader. He asked the body if he could return to office before the start of the hearing, but this was rejected and a new date for the hearing will be set, said Kodwa.

Hanekom said he had recused himself from the hearing. "I think the structures of the ANC will have to study his comments and decide how best to respond. " He said the statement, however, would not go unchallenged.

Fransman's allegations come a few days after he resigned as a member of the Western Cape legislature.