Political Analyst Somadoda Fikeni says the African National Congress (ANC) has to regain public trust by openly demonstrating that alleged abuse of state resources by party members will not be tolerated.
The ANC has called on the public and the media to allow the governing party space to deal with its internal matters. This relates to a report by the Integrity Commission that recommended that Ace Magashule step aside from his role as Secretary-General pending the finalisation of his court case, over allegations of fraud and corruption when he was Premier of the Free State.
Fikeni says South Africans are fast losing trust in the governing party. “ANC internal challenges may not be of concern to the public per se, but where public resources are involved, where the capacity of the state to govern is concerned, then it becomes a concern of the almost 60 million people in the country because the aliments and infighting within the ANC have profound implication for the country itself.”
Fikeni says the ANC needs to be consistent with its disciplinary processes:
Magashule to remain in his position
The ANC says Magashule will remain in his position and continue with his duties despite the decision by the party’s Integrity Commission that he step aside pending the outcome of a case of alleged involvement in corruption.
The recommendations by the ANC Integrity Commission are in line with the ANC 54th national elective conference, which stipulates that any leader and or member involved in corrupt activities must step aside from their positions.
The ANC continues to debate on how to approach this resolution, with five legal opinions having been consulted on the matter.
ANC Spokesperson, Pule Mabe says the matter of officials implicated in corruption is still being dealt with because guidelines are being developed by the leadership. These are expected to be presented to the NEC in January next year.
“The expectation is that early next year when the NEC meets we are expecting to receive those guidelines from the officials who will also now formally, as a structure, receive reports, including those of the integrity commission, having been processed according to how processes of the ANC are undertaken. The SG remains the SG of the ANC and expected to do the work that an SG for the ANC is expected to be doing.”
The ANC has called on the media and the public to allow the party the space to deal with internal processes over an Integrity Commission report on Ace Magashule.
“We must be allowed the space to follow through our own processes because if we are not loyal to our own processes, who’s going to take us seriously? We outlined these processes to yourselves. So, how do we now change the very processes we have put ourselves and want to introduce new things, and expect society to still accord us the respect? It cannot be.”
ANC responds to the commission’s recommendation:
Reaction to the commission’s recommendation
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has weighed in on the latest developments within the ANC. The DA says if the party is serious about corruption, its secretary-general, Ace Magashule, and others, should step aside.
DA Spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube says they have long held that the ANC is unable to act against its own leaders accused of corruption.
“The DA has long held that the ANC is unable to act against their own corrupt leaders because the issue of corruption runs deep in the organisation. The DA has no interest in internal ANC issues because these processes have not yielded any results in the fight against corruption,” says DA’s Siviwe Gwarube.
Free State ANC Youth League Chairperson Makalo Mohale says the ANC should be allowed space to deal with its processes:
The ANC has highlighted the importance of party processes in maintaining the unity of the party and has lambasted what it says are attempts to create division.
