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One hundred days after making a series of tough anti-corruption resolutions, the ANC is still fighting for it. Expect fireworks at your NEC meeting where Magashule will be on the carpet.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies will insist that ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule step aside after being indicted on multiple corruption charges earlier this month.
They will come armed with a legal opinion first informed by News 24, which says that because the ANC is a voluntary organization, its members must abide by the decisions of the party and its constitution.
The ANC constitution says that the secretary general can temporarily suspend a member for various minor offenses that discredit the party; a corruption charge applies to that definition.
Since Magashule is the central figure, the task would fall to his deputy. (Here is a background on how the process is supposed to work).
ANC Constitution: Magashule must step aside or be suspended – Duarte will be substitute SG
On the other hand, Magashule and party officials will use an opinion from defender Gcina Malindi that questions the constitutional validity of the resignation rule. This rule was confirmed in a 2017 Nasrec conference resolution and reaffirmed in a special anti-corruption NEC in August.
“There will be a reaffirmation that all defendants must step aside,” said an NEC member who spoke on condition of anonymity. The person predicted there would be “fireworks” at the two-day meeting, which begins Sunday, December 6.
Magashule is shooting all the cylinders. After his appearance in court, he told a crowd that he would not step aside unless the ANC branches asked him to. However, if you raise this argument over the weekend, the answer will be that these same branches passed the revocation resolution in 2017.
“Demand that every cadre accused of, or reported to be involved in, corrupt practices be accountable to the Integrity Committee immediately or face DC (disciplinary committee) proceedings,” the resolution says.
It continues: “Briefly suspend persons who do not give an acceptable explanation or who voluntarily withdraw, while they face disciplinary, investigative or procedural procedures.”
Some members of the ANC NEC say this is binding on Magashule, who clearly has a different perspective.
Ramaphosa finds himself increasingly isolated in the top six of the game as an adherent of the step aside rule.
ANC President Gwede Mantashe said in a sunday time interview that no official could be forced to step aside; it had to be a volunteer.
And the party’s general treasurer, Paul Mashatile, said City press on November 29: “Then Comrade Ace will stay in the organization… Regarding Ace, we have not made the decision to expel people.
“The concept of resigning at the conference was that people should consider it as an option if they got to this position. [of being charged]. ”
Assistant Secretary General Jessie Duarte has said the resignation rule is easier said than done.
The terrain has changed under Ramaphosa since the special anti-corruption NEC was held, as the Zondo commission heard testimony that Deputy State Security Minister Zizi Kodwa received funding from the technology company EOH, which is heavily involved in the capture of the state.
Kodwa is a powerful ally of the president and may become a hunting horse for Magashule supporters at Sunday’s NEC meeting.
The ANC’s implementation of the step aside rule is inconsistent: in Gauteng, President Khusela Diko’s spokesperson and former health MEC Bandile Masuku stepped aside after being instructed by provincial party chiefs to did it. But in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and Limpopo, the rule has been ignored. DM
