Africa-Press – South-Africa. Despite returning to his political position, the ANC in Gauteng is still probing spousal abuse allegations involving its provincial secretary, Jacob Khawe.
ANC provincial chairperson David Makhura said Khawe was back on the job after taking special leave in April.
Khawe had requested to take special leave following allegations that he had abused his wife.
His wife, Nthabeleng, had posted on social media alleging Khawe had abused her continuously since the pair married in December 2020.
Khawe denied the allegations when he met with the ANC provincial executive committee but had requested to be placed on special leave while the matter was being probed.
Makhura confirmed to News24 that a month after taking special leave, Khawe was back at work.
Makhura said the allegations were seconded to the ANC national integrity commission for probing.
The ANC national integrity commission declined to probe the matter and had thrown it back to the province to deal with the allegations, Makhura said.
Makhura did not expand on why the commission had decided to refer the matter back to the province.
“All I can say at the moment is that the matter was referred to the national integrity commission, and it’s considered that matter and referred it back to us. They decided that it be referred back. We had given him leave, but he has returned because the matter has been returned to us.
“He has returned. He is back. He returned this week after we got the report from the national commission. The province is looking at the matter in terms of what is the best way to handle the matter according to ANC standards,” Makhura said.
The Gauteng premier said the ANC had met with Khawe’s wife because the party had a duty to hear her side of the story as an alleged victim of gender-based violence.
The ANC Women’s League in Gauteng had asked for a speedy resolution to the probe.
The league had declined to comment on whether Khawe should be allowed to contest at the provincial conference. Still, it did not rule out the possibility of not supporting his interest in running for positions.
The ANC in the Gauteng is headed to a provincial conference at the end of June.
Khawe had indicated his interest in contesting his current post.
He was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
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