By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
The ANC says it has raised the bar for its future leaders despite dozens of them still being entangled in fraud and corruption scandals.
The party’s integrity commission headed by Reverend Frank Chikane has flagged 97 people as potentially not fit for office while more than 60 others are to be put through the party’s disciplinary process.
On Monday, a broad meeting of the top leadership of the ANC and its partners got underway at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg to finalise the party’s list process of potential members of Parliament and various legislatures.
From the onset, the process has been frustrated by members of the party’s Veterans League who say public trust in the ANC has been eroded by its perceived tolerance of corruption.
The ANC has a standing resolution that anyone charged with a crime should step aside from any public office until their matter is cleared by the courts.
The veterans, however, are not happy with this, saying it is not sufficiently watertight.
Dozens of people implicated in state capture but not yet charged by prosecutors slipped through into the party’s national executive committee at the party’s elective conference in December 2022.
This paved the way for such people to be mayors, MECs, MPs and ministers, despite being implicated in various corruption scandals.
With the prosecution of persons implicated in the state capture commission moving at a snail’s pace, the implicated members can remain in office arguing they have not been officially charged, tarnishing the party’s reputation.
All eyes will be on former president Kgalema Motlanthe who chairs the ANC elections committee and will guide the list conference.
Some of the implicated high-profile ANC members include former health minister Zweli Mkhize; Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa; Deputy Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo and former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo.
The integrity commission has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of the alleged Phala Phala robbery cover-up as well as Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, both for corruption.
But over the past few months, Deputy President Paul Mashatile has been implicated in corruption, while party secretary Fikile Mbalula has been accused of improperly benefiting from the national lottery scandal.
On Monday Mbalula said: “This time around the bar has been set high in terms of the qualifications requirement. It is worth noting that the majority of people on the ANC list have post-matric qualifications to serve in the legislatures.”
Pictured above: Fikile Mbalula.
Image source: X
