President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies have called for the ANC to rule that criminally charged party members should not be eligible to stand for election to any position.
It is understood this was proposed by the ANC secretary-general’s office co-ordinator Gwen Ramokgopa, ANC Veterans League leader Snuki Zikalala and Ramaphosa during the party’s national working committee (NWC) on Monday.
They called for the NWC to bar party members affected by the step-aside rule from contesting leadership positions in regional, provincial and national conferences. Hours before, corruption-accused Zandile Gumede was elected chair of the ANC in the eThekwini region.
Gumede is facing charges of corruption relating to the issuing of a R320m waste contract and is due back in court from July 13 to August 31. Gumede was removed as mayor in 2019 under the National Executive Council’s step-aside rule. After resigning from the council she was sworn in as an ANC MP in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature.
She won by a clean sweep in the highly contested regional conference, where her grouping won the top five positions against a faction sympathetic to Ramaphosa.
The move also comes after Ramaphosa expressed his displeasure in Mpumalanga at the provincial conference electing murder-accused Mandla Msibi as treasurer.
According to those around Ramaphosa, the election of people facing criminal charges waters down the step-aside rule, which is aimed at renewing the party.
However, the move by Ramaphosa and his allies is seen by some as short-sighted, as it could damage his chances of re-election as president of the party in December.
Should the party agree to the proposal, not only Ramaphosa’s opponents — such as Ace Magashule — would be affected. His own allies, including ANC Limpopo provincial treasurer Danny Msiza, would be involved. Msiza faces corruption charges related to the looting of VBS Mutual Bank and is expected to contest the secretary position in the upcoming provincial conference.
“Let them dig their own graves,” an NWC member said as the debate in the virtual NWC meeting got under way.
Questions were raised in the meeting on how this decision would affect conferences that had already elected criminally charged members. It was not immediately clear whether they would have to reconvene.
Gumede told Business Day she is on a mission to prove her innocence. She defeated her rival, eThekwini municipality speaker Thabani Nyawose, by 29 votes in what has been described as one of the toughest yet most peaceful elections in the region.
She was the favourite to win from the outset and had the backing of former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters and the so-called radical economic transformation (RET) bloc, as well as the powerful ANC Women’s League in the region. Nyawose belongs to a faction that supports Ramaphosa and the Renew, Revive and Unite faction.
Gumede said she was happy that she had won and said her focus is on unity and therefore would not like to speak on controversial matters, or anything that would further divide the ANC. “I am waiting for the charges to be put to me and will defend [myself against] them,” she said.
“The branches have spoken. I am grateful. My task is to unite the ANC in eThekwini. Given the step-aside rule of the party I will lead from the background, working with my new committee and with comrade Nyawose, despite his loss.”
Political analyst Protas Madlala said he is not shocked by the eThekwini results. “The ANC nationally has lost touch with the people on the ground. The party should be very worried that its members linked to corruption charges are still able to win elections. ANC members on the ground don’t care about what happens nationally. The ANC will not survive these kinds of divisions.”
Madlala said the outcome did not augur well for Durban. “The city and province are still reeling from the pandemic and the unrest and riots that bludgeoned the economy. This outcome will scare investors,” he said.
Madlala said the Gumede camp is known to support former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who the Special Investigating Unit is investigating in the Digital Vibes saga, in the race for the next ANC president.
“Gumede herself is no friend of Ramaphosa. She is a supporter of Zuma, so it’s no surprise that the region has made their intentions clear on who they think should lead the ANC.”
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.