The ANC national executive committee (NEC) has affirmed its support for President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of the party’s electoral conference later in 2022, coming out at its weekend meeting in favour of his tough stance on corruption and his plan to reform the party.
This comes as the ANC carves a way forward after the release of the Zondo commission’s report on state capture.
The report implicated the party and some senior members, including chair Gwede Mantashe, in the capture of the state under former president Jacob Zuma.
The NEC, the party’s highest decision-making body between national conferences, recommended that all those implicated in the state capture report, including Mantashe, appear before the integrity commission.
The committee also moved to strengthen the party’s disciplinary processes, swapping out members of its disciplinary committee to ensure the majority are not part of the party’s top brass so will not be conflicted in holding senior leaders to account.
Business Day understands that cabinet minister Thoko Didiza has been appointed by the NEC to head its renewal commission, which aims to position the party to win back its leading role. Other members of the committee are Naledi Pandor, Joel Netshitenzhe and Zingiswa Losi. Didiza’s appointment to chair the renewal commission was decided at the NEC’s three-day virtual meeting, which ended on Sunday.
Other items on the agenda were the status of the provinces and regions in the lead-up to the December conference and the status of the ANC Women’s and Youth leagues.
Former president Thabo Mbeki has made something of a comeback at senior level in the ANC lately and received recognition at the meeting. “The ANC also noted the important role that former president Thabo Mbeki is playing in promoting unity and renewal in the organisation and recommends that the renewal commission involve him in the planning of their work,” an NEC member said.
Mbeki, who was recalled from high office by the ANC in 2008, reaffirmed his confidence in the party in 2018 and has been travelling around the country in the ANC’s name to consult party structures on Ramaphosa’s renewal agenda.
According to the ANC’s constitution, all those facing serious criminal charges must step aside from public office. However, the party has yet to decide on the fate of Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini, who earlier in March was found guilty of perjury for lying under oath during an inquiry into the irregular awarding of contracts at the SA Social Security Agency in 2017. That makes Dlamini eligible to be asked by the party to step aside in line with its congress resolution.
Dlamini’s fate, however, hangs in the balance as the task team appointed by the party’s leadership in February to conduct a review of the Women’s League and its leadership is yet to provide a recommendation to the NEC. This is despite a report being presented to the NEC that showed the extent of the deterioration of the league, including it being unable to pay salaries and some regions underperforming and unable to convene meetings in preparation for its conference, according to insiders.
The NEC recommended that the disciplinary committee be chaired by Ralph Mgijima, a veteran who chaired the integrity commission of the Gauteng legislature. The committee has recommended that Johnny de Lange, the former deputy minister of justice, be the head of the disciplinary appeals committee.
Regarding the build-up to the ANC national conference scheduled for December, the party is said to have received reports on provincial and regional conferences. Eight of SA’s nine provinces are still due to hold their conferences before the ANC policy conference in June and the elective conference in December. The exception is Northern Cape, which held its conference in 2021.
The Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga are expected to hold their conferences in March, with Mpumalanga expected to back Ramaphosa’s second term as party president.
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