The ANC could not decree against consciences, as more than 50% of its MPs were worried about state capture and believed that action should be taken, said MP Derek Hanekom at The Gathering event in Cape Town on Thursday.
Pravin Gordhan, the former finance minister who is now an ANC backbencher in Parliament, estimated that the Guptas may have stolen R100bn from the state, highlighting the extent of their reach and the magnitude of state capture.
ANC MPs found it hard to vote against the previous motion of no confidence, said Hanekom, stopping short of saying which way the governing party’s MPs would vote in next week’s motion in Parliament.
Hanekom sits on the ANC national disciplinary committee and was one of the ministers booted out of President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet in March.
"It would appear some people are captured, but many good people in Parliament are not captured and have political consciousness. You cannot make a decree against consciousness or instruct members to stop being conscious ," said Hanekom.
"We won’t say now what we will or won’t do. It might be inappropriate. But it’s a minority of people who are bringing the ANC into disgrace and destroying its credibility and SA. The few of us who are hated by many are loved by many more in the country and in the ANC."
The right thing
"Many of us found the last vote of no confidence very hard to vote against. We did what we thought was the right thing.
"Many months later, there is another motion of no confidence. Now, it is that much more difficult to vote against it," Hanekom said.
MPs Makhosi Khoza and Mondli Gungubele have faced public censure by ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu for saying that they would exercise their conscience in the vote of no confidence Zuma.
This would be in defiance of Luthuli House’s directive that ANC MPs toe the party line.
Gordhan and Jonas also spoke at the event, warning about the Guptas’ pervasive presence in government and the extent of their influence in state-owned entities, as well as the capture of the ANC.
"We will continue to have a deteriorating environment. Some say we are talking ill of the organisation. But this is about being self-critical. Let us look at the situation with a view of changing it," said Gordhan.
Jonas said the extent of state capture should not be underestimated and civil society’s activism was vital in ensuring the executive was accountable.
"The ANC has been captured and weakened. The work by the South African Communist Party and the like needs to be encouraged. There is work to do in understanding the extent of state capture. We have a Gupta acolyte in every entity and perhaps in every municipality."
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