If you want to see just how rotten South African politics have become you don’t need to look much further than the ongoing saga that is Marius Fransman.

He would be the embattled Western Cape ANC chairman, who faces charges of sexual harassment against 21-year-old Louisa Wynand (a brief recap HERE).

Fransman is still facing those charges, which is why it came as such a surprise when the suspended politician popped up alongside JZ in a recent jaunt around Cape Town.

This is what we like to call a complete breakdown in communication, with the details from the Daily Maverick:

On Wednesday Fransman went in guns blazing, lodging an application with the Cape High court seeking to obtain a copy of an ANC Integrity Commission investigation into charges of sexual assault lodged by Louisa Wynand with police in January. Fransman had also asked the court to reaffirm his position as provincial leader after he was invited, he says, to campaign with President Jacob Zuma in the region last week, a clear sign that he was back in the fold and the saddle…

Fransman said that as an ANC leader in the provincial legislature he had received an invitation to join President Zuma on his pre-election walkabout in Cape Town and that this, to his mind, “was an indication that …the organisation appreciated that there was no valid suspension in place”.

Well you were wrong old chap, because even such a cosy relationship with JZ won’t save you from the squabbles engulfing the ANC.

So how did that taking his own party to court work out?

Fransman was due to argue for his reinstatement on Friday but late on Thursday appeared to have backed down, announcing that he was withdrawing all legal action against his party on advice from “religious leaders”.

Speaking to the media, Fransman said that since [ANC secretary-general Gwede] Mantashe and the Integrity Commission had handed over the report and he had received formal notice of the disciplinary, his purpose had been served.

He might carry favour with JZ, who obviously doesn’t think a sexual harassment case is much to fuss over, but other party bigwigs won’t allow him to hurry back without due diligence.

Is this the beginning of the waning of Zuma’s powers? And what of poor Marius, where to from here?

Oh well, at least he’ll always have Zapiro’s Pokemon drawing to chuckle about (HERE).

[source:dailymaverick]