The recently fired Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, and former Minister of Police Bheki Cele have been referred to the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
The two senior officials are among five party members found by the Integrity Commission to have brought the party into disrepute.
The NEC endorsed the commission’s report following its presentation at the party’s ordinary meeting held on 23 and 24 May, and resolved to refer all five matters to the National Disciplinary Committee for action under the ANC’s constitutional disciplinary process. The NEC will act as the complainant in each of the five cases.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula confirmed the referrals on Tuesday, saying the NEC had received and considered the Integrity Commission’s report on matters concerning the five named members at its most recent sitting.
Apart from Tolashe and Cele, the three others referred to are Sedibeng ANC regional secretary Jason Mkhwane, Matjhabeng mayor Thanduxolo Khalipa, and City of Johannesburg MMC Sithembiso Zungu.
Mbalula described the referrals as “an additional step,” saying the NEC had first fully endorsed the report and its recommendations in respect of each individual before resolving to escalate the matters to the disciplinary committee.
He did not elaborate on the specific findings against each of the five members, nor on the precise nature of the conduct examined by the Integrity Commission in each case. He confirmed, however, that the Office of the Secretary General would give effect to the NEC’s resolution “in the ordinary course.”
Mbalula said the constitutional disciplinary process would also run “in the ordinary course,” signalling that the matters would follow the ANC’s established internal procedures. The NEC’s decision to serve as complainant places the party’s governing body formally on record as the initiating party in disciplinary proceedings against its own members.
The Integrity Commission’s report was praised in strong terms by both the NEC and Mbalula in his address.
“The NEC commends in the strongest terms the ANC Integrity Commission for the depth, the fearlessness, and the discipline with which it has discharged its mandate,” he said. He described the Integrity Commission as “the conscience of the ANC,” adding that its work, performed “without favour and without fear,” was “one of the principal instruments by which the ANC renews itself and holds itself to the standards the people of South Africa expect of it.”
The ANC also placed on record its appreciation to the Chairperson of the Integrity Commission and to every commissioner who served through the process. Mbalula framed the commission’s work as standing at the core of the ANC’s renewal programme and its commitment to ethical conduct and good governance within its own ranks.
The referral of all five matters to the National Disciplinary Committee means the cases will now be processed through a formal, structured disciplinary process, with defined rights and procedures for the members concerned. As complainant, the NEC — the party’s highest decision-making body between national conferences — will be directly a party to the proceedings.
Mbalula did not indicate what specific charges would be laid before the committee, nor what sanctions could apply should the committee find against any of the five members. Under ANC constitutional provisions, disciplinary outcomes can range from warnings to suspension or expulsion from the organisation.
The Secretary General confirmed that the Integrity Commission’s report had been placed before him on the day of the NEC briefing.
The ANC did not specify a timeline for the commencement or conclusion of the proceedings. The referrals come as the party prepares for local government elections scheduled for 4 November 2026, a period during which the ANC has indicated its organisational focus will be directed at branch-level campaign activity across all provinces.