RP ousts Engelbrecht from party

FORMER Secretary General of the Republican Party Carola Engelbrecht’s outspokenness has cost her her party membership.

After officially being fired from the post of Secretary General by members of the RP’s male-dominated executive committee on Wednesday, they took their decision a step further yesterday by severing Engelbrecht’s last connection to the party for allegedly “undermining the Party in private conversations or by public statements”. Yesterday afternoon, Engelbrecht received written confirmation from the party of her dismissal as Secretary General and also of the termination of her party membership.A statement issued by the Chairman of the RP’s Executive Committee, Daan Holtzhausen, said the committee had decided at its Wednesday meeting that if Engelbrecht continued to make public statements rather than addressing her concerns through “the correct channels”, they would terminate her membership.”After yesterday’s Executive Committee meeting it became clear that Mrs Engelbrecht, through her press statement, chose to discuss the internal affairs of the party in public and thereby damaging the image of the party,” said Holtzhausen.Engelbrecht’s intimation that she might consider offers to join other parties if the RP was not open to differences of opinion gave impetus to the decision, the RP said.Approached for comment on the termination of her party membership, Engelbrecht appeared nonplussed, saying “it was bound to happen sooner or later”.”It is beneath my dignity to react to this childish exercise,” she added.A day earlier, Engelbrecht responded to her sacking from the Secretary General’s position, which she learnt of from a radio news report on Wednesday, by saying that she could not be forced to “blindly” follow and trust Party President Henk Mudge.Tensions between Engelbrecht and Mudge first became apparent last year, when she was suspended from the Secretary General’s position for alleged insubordination to her leader.She was later reinstated and the two agreed to reconcile their differences.Engelbrecht said she was not in agreement with the Party stifling opinions and being intolerant of divergent viewpoints within the party.In a letter written to her by Mudge last month, she was demanded to “unconditionally and in the interest of the Party support, trust and protect the President [Mudge] of the Republican Party”.Yesterday afternoon, Engelbrecht received written confirmation from the party of her dismissal as Secretary General and also of the termination of her party membership.A statement issued by the Chairman of the RP’s Executive Committee, Daan Holtzhausen, said the committee had decided at its Wednesday meeting that if Engelbrecht continued to make public statements rather than addressing her concerns through “the correct channels”, they would terminate her membership.”After yesterday’s Executive Committee meeting it became clear that Mrs Engelbrecht, through her press statement, chose to discuss the internal affairs of the party in public and thereby damaging the image of the party,” said Holtzhausen.Engelbrecht’s intimation that she might consider offers to join other parties if the RP was not open to differences of opinion gave impetus to the decision, the RP said.Approached for comment on the termination of her party membership, Engelbrecht appeared nonplussed, saying “it was bound to happen sooner or later”.”It is beneath my dignity to react to this childish exercise,” she added.A day earlier, Engelbrecht responded to her sacking from the Secretary General’s position, which she learnt of from a radio news report on Wednesday, by saying that she could not be forced to “blindly” follow and trust Party President Henk Mudge.Tensions between Engelbrecht and Mudge first became apparent last year, when she was suspended from the Secretary General’s position for alleged insubordination to her leader.She was later reinstated and the two agreed to reconcile their differences.Engelbrecht said she was not in agreement with the Party stifling opinions and being intolerant of divergent viewpoints within the party.In a letter written to her by Mudge last month, she was demanded to “unconditionally and in the interest of the Party support, trust and protect the President [Mudge] of the Republican Party”.