A former North West African National Congress (ANC) branch secretary on Tuesday claimed Brian Molefe was never a member of a ward in the province.

“Molefe’s membership has never been found. He has never participated in branch general meetings,” former branch secretary in the Madibeng region, Christine Malula, said.

She did not know the former Eskom CEO and said he was never a member of the ANC in Madibeng’s ward 29.

Malula was a secretary of the branch when Molefe is said to have applied for and renewed his ANC membership.

New ANC members had to appear before the secretary so they could read them their oath, she told News24.

She was speaking hours after regional leadership, members of the ANC Youth League and members of the ANC provincial executive committee produced what they said were Molefe’s membership forms.

This followed questions about Molefe’s membership in the ANC. Tshwane regional secretary Paul Mojapelo said Molefe was still a member in good standing in Irene. He said any branch or province could nominate a member to go to Parliament.

Last week, Parliament released a statement announcing that Molefe would become an MP following a nomination from the ANC North West.

The branch Malula previously led rejected this and said it knew nothing about Molefe. Malula claimed the chairperson of the branch, Bethuel Mmutle, was not a legitimate leader.

Malula said the forms the ANC North West produced to prove Molefe was an ANC member were not legitimate.

Molefe was in contact with the Gupta family, according to former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s “State of Capture” report. He announced his resignation from Eskom on November 11, 2016, to take effect on January 1 this year.

ANC leaders said Malula was no longer a member of the party and had been campaigning for the Forum for Service Delivery during the 2016 municipal elections. She refuted these claims.

“I am still a member in good standing of Ward 29 Madibeng region,” she told News24.

Parliament said Molefe would not be sworn in on Wednesday, ahead of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s Budget Speech. The ANC in Parliament initially said he would be.