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Cyril Ramaphosa and Ace Magashule. (Gallo images)
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed to the political conscience of the NEC.
- This is while the NEC grapples with its own decision to step aside.
- Ramaphosa said the ANC’s problems run deep.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that the ANC’s problems run deep and has called for the National Executive Committee (NEC) to respect its own decisions and exercise “revolutionary political consciousness.”
Ramaphosa made this request during his political review at the last NEC meeting on Tuesday.
He was referring to the NEC’s decision that those implicated in allegations of wrongdoing should step aside.
This resolution has become the bone of contention in the party’s leadership after Secretary General Ace Magashule was indicted on 21 counts of corruption, money laundering and fraud.
READ | Should the ANC expel Ace and others? Dali Mpofu Says No, Cites CR17 Campaign
He said the decision the NEC made in August represented a collective determination to draw a line in the sand on corruption, three months later, yet there is growing concern within society and among members that the NEC is not committed to his own decisions, he said. said.
“The challenge we face is not just about the implementation of Conference resolutions and NEC decisions. There is a much deeper problem of revolutionary discipline and consciousness. In the documentation of this NEC, we are provided no less than Five legal opinions on the implementation of our so-called “sidestep” resolution.
“I am sure that none of us would have ever thought that the CNE’s deliberations would have come to this. As members of a voluntary organization, we are all bound by our Constitution, by the resolutions of our Conferences and by the decisions of our structures.” , said.
News24 previously reported that five legal opinions on the resignation issue had produced contrasting advice from high-level advocates. The views of defenders Dali Mpofu, Thembeka Ngcukaitobi and Mathews Phosa agreed that the resolution was unconstitutional and illegal.
An unsigned and undated opinion specifically addressed to General Secretary Ace Magashule, who is out on rand 200,000 bail after being charged with 21 counts of fraud and corruption, says the party’s NWC could order him to step aside, as you have refused to do so voluntarily, News24 reported.
“If he defies the NWC’s instructions, then the NWC may consider disciplinary action against the SG in terms of Rule 25.3,” the opinion stated. However, defender Gcina Malindi said that if a decision was made within the limits of the ANC constitution and party resolutions, it would pass the legal and constitutional test.
“We have sought these legal opinions and they may help us clarify what is unsafe for some of us. But if we are to reflect on the proud and glorious history of our movement for more than a century, on the great leaders who have led it to through the most difficult and dangerous times, it is difficult not to see these five legal opinions as an indictment of the movement that we have become. However, it does not have to be that way, “he said.
He appealed to the political conscience of the NEC, which he said was based on the party’s commitment to the cause of freedom for all the people of South Africa.
READ ALSO | It is unconstitutional! Ace Magashule and his followers come locked and loaded for the NEC showdown
Ramaphosa said that conscience calls on members to be selfless, to make sacrifices in the service of the people, to always act with integrity and honesty, and to put the interests of the collective above narrow personal interests.
“It is this awareness that leads us to abide by the rules of our movement and respect the decisions of its structures. As leaders, it should be what drives our actions and informs our decisions,” he said.
He added that the ANC leadership has the means and the responsibility to restore this movement to one of integrity and credibility, united in action and putting the needs and interests of the people above anything else.
“To do this, the ANC needs to be united with society. We need to close the distance between the popular masses and our movement. We need to be rooted among our people and we must derive our political legitimacy from their support for our movement. We can begin to do so by respecting our own decisions and exercising our revolutionary political consciousness, “he said.
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