CHARLES MOLELE
KEY supporters of ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule have accused a powerful grouping aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa of cherry-picking corruption cases in a desperate bid to tarnish his name.
The fate of Magashule, who is facing corruption charges related to the R255 million tender for an asbestos audit, is expected to top agenda at the governing party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, despite the issue not originally being on the draft programme.
The ANC NEC, the party’s highest decision-making body between conferences, is meeting to discuss, among other key issues, the January 8 Statement to be delivered by the party’s president at the beginning of the year.
Among other issues, the virtual conference was expected to discuss the way forward regarding the constitutionality of its 2015 ANC National General Council (NGC) resolution, which called for corruption-accused leaders to step aside.
The party has gathered five separate legal opinions on whether its members should step aside if criminally charged.
Inside Politics understands that Ramaphosa’s key allies were expected to push for Magashule to step down as the party’s secretary general, the second most powerful positions in the country.
The decision to force Magashule to step down has been described by analysts as a litmus test for the party’s NEC resolution that those charged with corruption should step aside.
In the wake of the multi-billion rand COVID-19 relief corruption scandal, the governing party has been under pressure to demonstrate decisiveness in addressing corruption in government and in the party.
Magashule’s supporters have argued that in the event that he steps down as the party secretary general, all those facing corruption charges, including Ramaphosa and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, should also step aside.
MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus, one of Magashule’s key and vocal supporters, said on Monday that the ‘step aside’ policy should apply to all members and not be used for narrow, factional purposes.
Niehaus said all resolutions of the ANC taken at the previous national congresses must also be implemented, including the policy of radical economic transformation, nationalization of the reserve bank and the expropriation of land without compensation.
“The issue to step aside rule should be applied on an equal basis. We cannot cherry pick cases. Those who have received adverse findings from the Public Protector must also step aside,” Niehaus argued during a live television debate on eNCA news channel.
Delivering his political report on Monday, Ramaphosa said the ANC was “increasingly appearing like an organization at war with itself.”
“In recent times, we have witnessed statements and actions that are alien to the practices, culture and values of our movement. We increasingly appear like an organisation at war with itself. We need to ask ourselves whether we are still committed to the mandate we were given by the conference to unite and renew the movement,” he told members of the NEC, including former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, who attended in their capacity as ex-officio members.
“We have a direct instruction from the 54th National Conference to renew our organisation and clear resolutions on rebuilding the integrity and credibility of our movement. At the NEC meeting of 28-30 August, we took firm and unequivocal decisions on the fight against corruption within our structures and across society. These decisions were drawn directly from the decisions of the 54th National Conference. We described our stance as ‘a line in the sand’, representing our collective determination not to give any ground in our fight against corruption. Now, just 3 months later, there is growing concern within society and among our membership that this leadership is not committed to the decisions taken by the NEC and by our National Conference.”
Ramaphosa added: The challenge we face is not only about the implementation of Conference resolutions and NEC decisions. There is a far deeper problem of revolutionary discipline and consciousness. In the documentation for this NEC, we are provided with no fewer than five legal opinions on the implementation of our so-called ‘stepping aside’ resolution.”
“I am certain that there are none among of us who ever would have thought that the deliberations of the National Executive Committee would have come to this.
As members of a voluntary organisation, we are all bound by our Constitution, by the resolutions of our Conferences and by the decisions of our structures.”
“In addition, as revolutionaries, we are also bound by a political consciousness that is founded on our commitment to the cause of freedom for all the people of South Africa. It is this consciousness that calls on us to be selfless, to make sacrifices in the service of our people, to always act with integrity and honesty, and to place the interests of the collective above narrow personal interests.”
(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)
