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By Siviwe Feketha 
53 m ago
Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the ANC will take action against all leaders who refused to voluntarily deviate from their posts while facing corruption charges.
On Monday, the first six members of the ANC held a briefing on the results of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend, in which they discussed allegations of corruption linked to its leaders and members and that were tarnishing the image of the party.
This comes as the ANC is beset by a growing faction gap that has been intensified by the looting of Covid-19 relief funds during the pandemic.
Prior to the special NEC meeting, the looting scandal prompted Ramaphosa to write a seven-page letter to ANC members in which he said the ANC was in the dock as “Defendant No. 1” in relation to with the corruption accusations and asked all the accused to intervene. apart.
Ramaphosa said that the letter, which has been publicly condemned by former President Jacob Zuma and other ANC leaders, had been endorsed by the NEC “as a clear articulation of the organization’s policies and positions” and that its action points had been approved.
Ramaphosa said the party’s top brass had resolved to “draw a line in the sand” against corruption by requesting that all the criminally accused depart from their government and party positions pending completion of their prosecutions.
“The ANC emphasized that what appears to be a choreographed campaign against the president will not distract the movement from embarking on an intensified program against corruption and state capture, as ordered by the 54th national conference,” Ramaphosa said.
Those facing accusations must explain themselves to the ANC’s Integrity Commission. Those convicted would have to resign from their positions.
Ramaphosa said the party would take disciplinary action against any party member who refused to follow the instruction to withdraw. “If a member does not want to comply, the ANC constitution comes into action through a well-established disciplinary process that is set out in rule 25 of our constitution,” he said.
ANC MP and NEC member Bongani Bongo is among those who will stand aside from all his posts while facing corruption charges related to the alleged bribery of a test leader in Parliament’s investigation into Eskom.
Eastern Cape ANC agitator Andile Lungisa, who is appealing against his two-year sentence to the Supreme Court of Appeals for assaulting a DA councilman during a council session in Nelson Mandela Bay, has already been instructed to resign as councilor for the regional ANC after the NEC decision.
“There are some people who of their own free will have already decided that they are going to step aside because they have realized and they have to hear what the NEC’s decision is and we must pay tribute to them,” Ramaphosa said.
ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule called for those facing accusations to be treated fairly and with due process, as people’s images are sometimes damaged by being branded corrupt. “People’s images sometimes blur when there are no facts. We always say that if you have facts, South Africans will go and report any crime to law enforcement agencies. “
He called for law enforcement to be allowed to do their job without undue pressure. “Don’t rush them because they want to make sure that when they carry a person, they can really succeed,” he said.
Political Bureau
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