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- The ANC’s top six say that all those facing corruption or felony charges should step aside with immediate effect.
- The party says that those implicated in allegations of corruption must appear before the party’s integrity committee.
- The ANC’s NEC has also resolved to establish guidelines for internal contests, with rules focused on lobbying and campaigning.
The ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has urged law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned when dealing with Covid-19 corruption.
The party’s top six, in an unusual move, held a press conference in which President Cyril Ramaphosa read the statement from the three-day meeting held by the ANC’s highest decision-making body between conferences.
Ramaphosa said that ANC members who have been formally charged with corruption or other serious crimes should step down from all leadership positions in the party, in legislatures and other government structures pending the completion of their cases.
He also said that people allegedly involved in serious crimes or corruption would have to appear before the ANC’s integrity commission to give their version of events, and those who provide an unsatisfactory explanation face suspension.
READ | At least 4 violations among a variety of violations by ANC leaders
This occurs when officials, as mandated, will develop implementation guidelines and procedures, and the next national working committee (NWC) will review progress, ”said the ANC president.
This is due to the decisions to instruct the controversial former mayor of Ethekwini, Zandile Gumede, to step aside from her newly appointed post as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature.
The executive committee also agreed that those convicted of corruption or serious crimes should resign their positions and face disciplinary action in accordance with the party’s constitution.
Give up
This has resulted in another controversial figure, Andile Lungisa, who recently resigned as a member of the Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral committee, being instructed by a regional body to resign from his job as a councilor and be part of a team of branch tasks.
“The NEC agreed that this will be a turning point in the fight against corruption,” read Ramaphosa.
His letter to party members labeling the ANC as “Defendant No. 1” when it comes to corruption was endorsed by the NEC, which also pledged to meet with the integrity commission, a structure made up of ANC stalwarts aimed at to measure the behavior of the members against the values defended by the old liberation movement.
Ramaphosa said the meeting aims to strengthen the integrity commission’s role and ensure that it has the necessary resources to carry out its mandate.
READ | Ramaphosa talks about Zuma, Yengeni and corruption in NEC briefing, condemns ‘campaign’ against them
He also told reporters at the ANC NEC virtual meeting that if it were up to him, the IC’s decisions would be binding rather than the current form, in which it makes recommendations to the NEC.
The party said it would also put in place a system for its leaders to make regular declarations of financial interests.
“Building on existing practices in parliament and government, the system should ensure a proper balance between privacy and accountability,” the president said.
The NEC also resolved that guidelines would be established for ANC leaders and their families doing business.
This has been in the limelight in recent months with family members and those with close ties to party leaders winning large Covid-19-related tenders from different government departments.
The children of the ANC secretary general and the husband of Ramaphosa spokesperson Khusela Diko were among those who received large Covid-19 procurement contracts.
CR17
Referring to its own saga of ANC election campaigns, Ramaphosa said the party would also seek to set guidelines on its approach to internal leadership competencies, with a key focus on lobbying and campaigning.
“This will take into account the experiences of the organization over many years and will be guided by the overriding imperative to ensure that internal democratic processes protect the integrity of the movement and indeed produce the best cadres to lead the transformation,” Ramaphosa said.
The attacks on the president in the run-up to the weekend meetings were characterized as “choreographed,” and Ramaphosa himself told reporters that he would not publicly respond to a scathing letter addressed to him by his predecessor, the former president. Jacob Zuma.
Zuma made no effort in the now widely circulated letter, saying that unless Ramaphosa and the NEC “clarify” how he was chosen, his letters “would be construed as his attempts to appease those who, with their ill-gotten riches, catapulted you. to the position you occupy in our movement. “
READ | Ramaphosa says ANC members should ‘sink their heads in shame’
“We all know that such donations amounted to sacrificing the historic mission of the ANC for 30 pieces of silver,” he said.
In the 12-page letter, Zuma tells Ramaphosa that he, and not the ANC, should hang his head in shame.
While the ANC NEC rejected Zuma’s letter, Ramaphosa did not appear antagonistic in response. “
No, we will not go that way. I don’t see it as an insult. I’m not that easy to insult… As much as people can stand on mountains and hills and try to insult me. I’m not easy to insult, “Ramaphosa said.
READ | Zuma breaks Ramaphosa’s Corruption Card
“The burden of leadership is that you must be able to get members and others to speak out,” he added.
COVID-19
The NEC also discussed the ANC government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which hit the country in March, and said it was encouraged by the significant decline in new cases.
“These figures suggest that the country has most likely passed the peak of infections earlier than projected and with fewer infections and deaths,” he noted.
A tribute to those who have succumbed to the virus and to healthcare workers on the front lines was combined with a commitment to ensuring that there was adequate personal protective equipment for those serving the nation in their hospitals.
Other issues discussed included local government, gender-based violence, the African agenda, as well as progress in economic reconstruction and recovery.
Ramaphosa said that while relief measures through the R500 billion fund to help with health effects and to prevent a humanitarian crisis continue to have a positive impact, they were insufficient to address all of the unemployment challenges, the poverty, inequality and exclusion in the country. country.
“It is in this context that the work on a plan for reconstruction, growth and transformation must be completed as urgently as possible,” he said.
The ANC NEC is expected to carry out a special NEC lekgotla in this regard.
