In a statement from the ANC in the Central Karoo regional, the party said that following an internal disciplinary process Prince had been fined and ordered to apologise for his recent conduct which had made headlines.
In a letter, signed by Prince, a request was made to the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) chairman that a tender to build a skills development centre be given to a construction company sympathetic to the ANC with a view to raising election campaign funds for the party.
This prompted the opposition Democratic Alliance to lay a charge of corruption against Prince.
On Monday, the regional ANC issued a statement which outlined the disciplinary action taken against Prince.
“The ANC wish to state categorically that internal disciplinary actions are not punitive in their nature but restorative and rehabilitatory and as such at the conclusion of this process, The ANC and its mayor had resolved as follows:
“1. That Mayor Prince apologise to the ANC NEC, PEC and REC for his conduct both in respect of this alleged letter and his utterances to weekend newspapers.
“2. That Mayor Prince be fined an amount of R10,000 for bringing the organisation to disrepute, half of this money be suspended for a period of 6 months.”
The party also sought to distance itself from the controversial elements contained in the letter.
“We have also noted a paragraph in the letter that seeks to create an impression or an interpretation that the ANC as an organisation would monetarily or otherwise benefit from this effort.
“The ANC wants to reiterate that it is not in a business and that it does not apply or otherwise bid for tenders and will never try to sway municipal procurement processes to benefit itself and as such the ANC distances itself from such intention if at all it exist.”
The party added: “The ANC wish to make it clear that we understood that whilst the tone of the letter in some instances was unfortunate, the intention of the mayor is clearly noble, particularly because we exist in a poverty-stricken region and that it would be sad that even when big construction will be taking place in our region, the local people be placed at the bottom of the value chain.”
Prince, meanwhile, is also facing charges relating to the alleged assault of a female traffic police officer.
