ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile says that the corruption allegations against party president Cyril Ramaphosa and former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who are largely seen as front-runners in the party’s leadership race, could be the death knell of the party in the 2024 general election.
In an interview with Business Day, Mashatile, who is also running for the ANC deputy president position, said the allegations against the two were like a dark cloud hanging over the party.
“The allegations against our leaders will affect the party ... and that’s the trouble that the ANC must deal with, but it would be wrong to condemn anybody for now, especially if people are still following due process,” said Mashatile.
“But whether there is a cloud, yes there is a cloud, but we are not going to extricate ourselves by saying no we disassociate with this leader or that leader when there are still due processes. We need to wait ... painful wait ... but we need to wait.”
Mashatile’s remarks come at a time when Ramaphosa is facing increasing internal pressure from the ANC to account for the theft of an undisclosed amount in dollars from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo — and the alleged cover-up of the burglary two years ago — while Mkhize is fighting off allegations that he and his family benefited from the irregular awarding of a R150m communication tender to Digital Vibes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Step aside
Mkhize resigned from his post in the government in the wake of the scandal in August 2021, while Ramaphosa’s detractors in the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) used this past weekend’s three-day meeting to call for him to step aside while various law enforcement authorities investigate the
matter.
Both Mkhize and Ramaphosa have denied wrongdoing.
The ANC’s integrity committee is yet to finalise its reports on their cases.
Should these candidates be charged, they will be forced to step aside in line with the party’s rules.
Mkhize, who was earlier endorsed by the provincial leadership of KwaZulu-Natal, received a campaign boost last week when he was named as the ANC Youth League’s task team candidate for president.
Leagues in the ANC are counted as provinces and a nomination from a league automatically means the candidate will be on the ballot paper during conference.
Ramaphosa’s re-election bid has been endorsed by the leadership in Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, North West and the Northern Cape, while a third candidate,
co-operative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, had not received any nomination from a league or province
before nominations closed on November 7.
‘Integrity commission’
The final tally of who will appear on the ballot paper at the national conference is expected to be published at the end of November. “The president has gone to the integrity commission, and the NEC agreed to allow the commission to finalise its work and come back to us, so for now we will pass no judgment on him ... Zweli has also appealed so we will also not pass any judgment,” said Mashatile.
Mashatile is largely viewed as the front-runner for the number two post in the ANC’s top six positions, having already been endorsed by the provincial leadership of three of the ANC’s largest voting blocs — Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng — before the nomination process began in September.
He was previously coy about his availability to stand for the deputy president position that is now held by David Mabuza, using the ANC cliché of “leaving it to the branches”.
His name also features on various slates, including one that has either Ramaphosa at the helm or Mkhize as president, indicating that he has found favour within rival factions of the ANC.
Mashatile has, however, denied that he is running as part of any faction or slate as that is against the party’s electoral rules.
The composition of slates ahead of an ANC electoral conference traditionally represents the wishes of rival factions who seek to push their preferred candidates to the upper echelons of leadership.
Rival factions
Though this is not unusual in party politics, the ANC has previously admitted that rival factions fuel violent protests and assassinations at municipal level. It further accepts that the calibre of the party’s elected officials is costing it at the polls.
“Have you ever seen me anywhere in this country running and saying comrades vote for me? No! I actually have too much work to do,” said Mashatile.
His detractors, who have dubbed him the “holy trinity” for being in charge of three positions in the party including secretary-general and deputy secretary-general, have accused him of using the positions to bolster his chances of being the party’s president, which Mashatile has denied.
His additional responsibilities in recent months, apart from being in charge of the party’s purse, includes ensuring that the party’s expected 4,000 delegates qualify to elect new leaders at the national conference in December.
Unoccupied positions in the secretary-general’s office were left vacant by the passing of Jesse Duarte earlier this year and also the suspension of Ace Magashule in 2021.
“I get nominations because I have a track record. Once you have a track record, there’s no need to campaign,” he said.
“When you are secretary-general you need to be careful not to conflate the work you do and your personal ambitions ... The system does not have room for manipulation.”
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