A renewed push within the ANC aims to strengthen discipline and remove charged officials from positions of state power.
If the ANC Veterans League has its way, all indicted ANC public representatives, including Cabinet ministers, will have to step aside from their offices to address their issues away from the public eye.
If this proposal under discussion at one of the national general council (NGC) commissions is adopted, it would mark a new twist in the ANC disciplinary process, which has been criticised for selective application.
Although the party has a record number of members who have stepped aside, many have escaped the noose and continue with business as usual in their state jobs, as if nothing happened.
The league, chaired by Snuki Zikalala, is pushing for the stepaside rule to be strengthened with strict provisions that would ensure those charged with criminal misconduct step aside from their offices and wait for their trials outside the party and their government roles.
Party veterans have been credited with directing the ANC to implement changes, especially on matters of discipline, as they believe the party has to be restored to its former glory as a movement with strong leaders.
Debate intensifies at the ANC’s national general council
In an interview with The Citizen on the sidelines of the ANC’s NGC hours before its closure, ANC political education head David Makhura confirmed the matter was being discussed, but there was no finality yet.
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“The fact is, why should you be representing the ANC in government if you step aside from ANC activities?” Makhura said.
Zikalala raised the issue at the NGC, saying those on the stepaside list should also step aside from their state duties.
The rule was passed in 2020 by the party’s top brass to deal with criminality in the ANC.
There have been questions about the effectiveness of the step-aside rule.
When former president Thabo Mbeki was president of the country, he removed his deputy Jacob Zuma from office after he was charged for corruption emanating from the multibillion-rand arms deal, but the ANC kept him as its deputy president.
As if this were not enough, ANC delegates and other structures expressed confidence in Zuma and elected him party president despite the charges pending against him.
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Ethics and political education at the centre of party renewal
Makhura said the NGC put special emphasis on ethics among party members.
He said the fact that there was a large number of ANC members on step-aside and those who have appeared before the ANC integrity commission is an indication of a change to restoring the ANC as a party of ethics and discipline.
National executive committee (NEC) member Andries Nel said there were constitutional changes being considered by the party, including formalising the step-aside rule to become part of the ANC constitution.
New accountability measures under consideration
The party plans to introduce a compulsory lifestyle audit for all its members, to streamline disciplinary processes and to introduce compulsory and mandatory expulsion of a member found guilty of gender-based violence.
“There are visible changes, the ANC is matching its talk with action, that is what the 2022 NEC is doing now,” Makhura said.
He said the ANC has intensified its political education, where every party member from the president down has to undergo a five-module course as part of ANC renewal.
He said over 125 000 ANC members from all levels were being trained in the foundation course.
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