News24.com | ActionSA terminates Nkele Molapo's membership after finding she shared party info with husband

• Nkele Molapo, an ActionSA councillor in Tshwane, has been dismissed from the party. 
• She was dismissed after a party investigation found she had shared internal party information with her husband, Abel Tau, a former party member. 
• Molapo plans to challenge the dismissal.

ActionSA has terminated the membership of Tshwane councillor Nkele Molapo after an internal investigation found that she had shared party information with her husband, Abel Tau, in contravention of party policies. 

Molapo was served with dismissal papers over the weekend.

Her termination letter, which News24 has seen, stated: "Your relationship with Tau and his continued campaign to damage the party has resulted in a material breakdown in trust between yourself and the party." 

The disciplinary panel was asked to probe the truthfulness of allegations that she actively fished for internal party information, and shared it with Tau. 

Tau was dismissed from the ActionSA in November 2022 after allegations of sexual harassment and accusations that he had abused council resources. He was aggrieved by the dismissal and is involved in litigation to challenge it in the Gauteng High Court. 

He has since formed his own political party, United Africans Transformation (UAT). 

According to ActionSA, Tau used information he received from Molapo for political attacks against ActionSA.

Molapo was also said to have shared an event for UAT in a Tshwane executive WhatsApp group.

READ | ActionSA terminates Gauteng leader Abel Tau's membership amid allegations of sexual assault

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the charges against Molapo were grave and that the party's leadership took the disciplinary panel's advice that the evidence warranted the termination of Molapo's membership.

"Her membership was terminated following an investigation into her conduct, specifically her feeding information about ActionSA to a political competitor in the City of Tshwane, who happens to be her husband. That is a violation of every standard," Beaumont told News24. 

He stressed that the party had no problems with her relationship with Tau - a fact that was known for years. 

But, he said deliberately sharing information and associating herself with comments against the party's leader, Herman Mashaba, warranted the termination of her membership.

Beaumont said:

Among the evidence used was that Molapo liked a Facebook post of someone attacking Herman Mashaba in a social media thread, Beaumont said. 

"This is a person who clearly does not want to be in ActionSA, and we are just assisting her with that decision," he added. 

READ | ActionSA terminates membership of Tshwane councillor, 4 others face disciplinary hearings

There was also an accusation Molapo bullied Tshwane caucus members, which, according to the party, created a culture of fear among members. 

"The prima facie [evidence] is clear that you have intimated and/or harassed members of your caucus in your attempt to destabilise the party," the termination letter stated. 

Molapo said she would challenge the decision and directed News24 to her response in the disciplinary hearing. 

In the response, she told the party she and Tau were married traditionally in November 2022. 

She said her relationship was being isolated and pointed out that other party members' relationships were not, including that of Brutus Malada, who is married to DA member Mpho Phalatse.

Molapo wrote:

She plans to challenge her dismissal on the basis that it violates her constitutional rights, including the rights to freedom of association, freedom of expression and speech. 

This is Molapo's second dismissal from a political party.

While serving as a DA councillor in Tshwane in 2020, her membership was terminated after she was accused of sharing internal party information with the EFF. 

Her dismissal also comes after the party faced questions about its Gauteng leader, Bongani Baloyi, who was asked to take a different role in the party because of challenges in political structures in the province.