The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday suspended Mervyn Alexander Dirks, the party’s Whip of its study group of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) in Parliament.
Dirks had been trying to bring President Cyril Ramaphosa – the leader of the ANC – before SCOPA to answer questions about campaign funds mentioned in a leaked audio clip suggesting that public funds were used for party leadership campaigns in 2017.
For his troubles, the ANC served Dirks with a “notice of precautionary suspension and intention to institute disciplinary proceedings”.
The letter dated 20 January seen by The Bulrushes added: “This serves to notify you of the intention of the Office of the Chief Whip to initiate disciplinary proceedings against you.
“This follows your conduct unbecoming of a Whip of the ANC Parliamentary Caucus … “
Dirks has been placed on “precautionary suspension with immediate effect in order for the necessary investigations to take place”.
He has been relieved of his duties as the Whip of the ANC SCOPA Study Group.
Dirks has also been removed from Caucus WhatsApp groups and has been specifically “prohibited from engaging on any media platform regarding this matter”.