Cape Town - A furious group of Cape Coloured Congress party leaders and members have slammed their interim president, Fadiel Adams, for allegedly violating the organisation’s code of conduct.
The disgruntled group are calling for Adams’ immediate resignation as well as that of the party’s secretary-general Sakeena Frenchman and two other top leaders.
The members claimed that according to their code of conduct and constitution, Adams was guilty of gross financial misconduct, verbal abuse, inciting violence, harassment of fellow members, revoking memberships with no just cause, corruption and theft.
In documents, including bank statements and messages shown to the Cape Argus, Adams allegedly withdrew large amounts of money from the party’s account, neglected to provide receipts for his transaction, avoided financial auditing and verbally abused party members when he was questioned.
The party’s national adviser Abdul Karriem said while the organisation was tabling several problems since its inception, Adam’s attempt to disband the regional CCC committee that oversees the party’s Cape metro branches exacerbated the situation pushing the group to stand against him in a fight to save the shaky political organisation.
“The regional committee was concerned about the lack of commitment from Fadiel to plan the way forward following the November elections last year, and it also brought up concerns regarding his reluctance to have a financial audit take place.
“He went behind our backs to disband the committee.
“We don’t understand what kind of a leader does that, when we tried to ask him why he claimed that the committee did not have enough members to remain active, a blatant lie.
“At the time 10 people were part of the committee, while three later left, the seven remaining could continue holding position because our constitution allowed them to.
“Fadiel has done a lot of things to bring our party into disrepute, and we can no longer sit back and watch him destroy what we worked so hard to build.
“We owe it to our constituency to speak out and speak up,” said Karriem.
Seemingly the organisation is shouldering split factions within the Cape metro which is split between Mitchells Plain, the Northern and Southern Suburbs.
One of the committee members, Shakira Kube said that in an attempt to salvage the situation, the committee had approached Adams for a meeting to address their concerns, and he agreed.
The meeting was set to be held on Wednesday night in Manenberg.
“We didn’t think the meeting place was accessible for us all at night, so we suggested it be held in Ruyterwacht.
“Our request was not considered, but Fadiel went ahead to host the meeting without us.
“We are tired of Fadiel’s conduct and arrogance, he is abusive and set on ruining this party,” Kube said.
In response to the allegations, Adams said that he had not disbanded the regional committee of his own accord but that the party’s executive had made the decision because the committee was losing branches.
“We called a meeting on Wednesday to allow me the opportunity to respond to their allegations.
“They refused to attend citing safety concerns.
“The people making allegations have fraudulently presented themselves as ward councillors to gain people’s trust.
“We have taken the legal route to deal with them.
“Last night our branches voted for their expulsion, this was not my decision.
“Regarding the claims that I have been verbally abusive, I admit I lost my temper.
“These people have defamed my name.
“So, yes I swore, but it was in response to the smearing of my name. We have proof of their crimes, and our attorneys will deal with them,” Adams said.
CCC fundraising officer Donovan de Jager said: “There are instances where Fadiel has withdrawn funds from the party’s account without giving receipts.
“In December last year he withdrew R10 000 for printing, the day before Christmas last year.
“Mind you, we had closed for the year already at the time.
“We have bank statements that are irrefutable proof.
“If Fadiel does not step down, we will take legal action against him.”
De Jager is also the CCC member who opened a case against Adams for intimidation, and slander. The case is currently being investigated by police in Kensington.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said: “Kensington Police are investigating a case of intimidation. The investigation into the matter continues.
“The investigating officer in the matter responded to facts provided and will present the docket to the Senior State Prosecutor (SPP) for a decision.”
Commenting on the effect of the infighting within the small political organisation, political analyst Daniel Silke said: “For an organisation that’s starting, having internal conflict this early on could deter their agenda, which is sad considering that they burst onto the scene with moderate success.
“They cannot afford to be focusing on infighting at a time like this, also credibility for a small party is important if this blows out of proportion their voters will find other parties to support.”