Lungani Zungu
Carl Niehaus was officially fired from the ANC Luthuli House headquarters on Friday, just months after his ally Ace Magashule, who employed him under dubious circumstances, was suspended.
His booting came after he threatened to open a case against the ANC top leadership led by President Cyril Ramaphosa over the non-payment of salaries of ANC staffers.
It is unknown precisely what was his job at Luthuli House where he was hired by Magashule without the knowledge of other top leaders in the party.
Even the party’s spokesperson Pule Mabe doesn’t know Niehaus’s job at the headquarters.
“My brother, I don’t know what he was doing there. I don’t know what his role was, and I am not the only one who’s in the dark about his job description,” Mabe told Scrolla.Africa on Friday.
In his case, which is yet to be opened, Niehaus left out Magashule’s name from the top six leadership.
He blames party leader Ramaphosa, ANC deputy president David Mabuza, national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, treasurer-general Paul Mashatile and deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte for the non-payment of staff salaries.
This angered many in the party, including party manager Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, who gave Niehaus an ultimatum on Thursday, asking him why he should not be fired.
In his last-ditch attempt to save his job, Niehaus said firing him would be unlawful and illegal.
Despite this, the ANC fired him, with immediate effect, and told him to fetch his belongings at Luthuli House by 11 am on Friday.
Before his firing, the writing had been on the wall for Niehaus who had been blamed by Transport Minister and NEC member Fikile Mbalula for being allegedly behind the July unrest that saw more than 350 dying in KZN and Gauteng.
The 61-year-old Niehaus may be down, but he is still kicking.
He took to Twitter on Friday and said, “They don’t care (top leadership)! Those of us who intend to lay the charges will now proceed. We’ll announce today when.”
Attempts to reach Niehaus were unsuccessful as his phone rang to voicemail.
