By Marcus Moloko
ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member and convenor of ANC deployees in the Eastern Cape, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the party’s candidate selection criteria will be designed to strengthen accountability and ensure only qualified leaders are entrusted with serving communities.
Kubayi was speaking at the ANC’s rally on Sunday, following a Constitutional Court ruling on the ANC’s candidate lists, which she said had been welcomed by communities across the Eastern Cape.
According to Kubayi, the judgment brought relief to residents and leaders who had expressed support for the ANC’s candidate selection process.
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She said some community members and traditional leaders had even been prepared to join the legal challenge to demonstrate their backing for the party.
A key aspect of the ANC’s candidate criteria is the exclusion of individuals with criminal records from serving as ANC representatives.
Kubayi said the measure would send a strong message at a time when South Africa continued to grapple with high levels of crime and violence.
“The fact that we have put criteria, issues such as criminal records, that you can’t serve ANC when you have a criminal record because we are dealing with issues of violent crime in this country. We are dealing with a high level of criminal activities,” she said.
She argued that communities should be confident that individuals representing the ANC are not involved in activities that harm society.
“For the ANC to come out and say each candidate will not be people that are causing harm to the people of South Africa, it’s a very good message,” Kubayi said.
The ANC has also introduced minimum qualification requirements for prospective municipal representatives, a move Kubayi said is necessary to ensure municipalities have leaders with the skills and capacity to address increasingly complex governance challenges.
She said the administration of municipalities requires specialised knowledge and competence, particularly as local governments face mounting pressure to improve service delivery and respond to community concerns.
“The second one around qualification, that there must be minimum requirements for people who represent the ANC so that the complexities of municipalities are not undermined,” she said.
Kubayi said qualified and capable representatives would be better equipped to address the problems faced by residents and ensure municipalities function effectively.
“The capacity that is needed by the municipalities to be able to solve the problems of the people are not undermined,” she said.
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She added that the measures should reassure South Africans that candidates emerging through the ANC selection process have been properly vetted and met the standards expected of public representatives.
“I do think those as well are qualities that South Africans must feel comfortable that whoever emerges is a person that ANC would have actually made sure that they meet the requirements and they are able to respond to their challenges,” Kubayi said.
