The ANC’s electoral committee, which is tasked with vetting the party’s candidate selection process for public representatives, has yet to disqualify members who have been implicated in the state capture report, says secretary of the electoral committee Livhuwani Matsila.
Candidates who have been implicated in the judicial commission of inquiry’s report are disqualified from nomination as potential MPs and MPLs unless they have been cleared by the party’s internal watchdog. This is according to the party’s rules and the process guiding the list nominations process.
However, Matsila says the electoral committee has not yet received any instruction from the national executive committee (NEC) — which is tasked with implementing the recommendations of the integrity commission (IC) — to disqualify members of the party.
“Our rules don’t exclude those who are mentioned in any report unless they are criminally charged in the court,” Matsila says. “Such a matter would have to be processed by the IC ... the [electoral committee] will disqualify somebody once the IC makes recommendations, which also have to go to the NEC.”
The list of public representatives is traditionally used by the party to select ministers, premiers and MECs after national and provincial elections.
The party has to nominate up to 200 candidates for parliament. Nine provincial legislature ANC lists require a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 80 candidates. The ANC constitution guarantees its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, the candidacy for president of the country. He is still, however, scheduled to be interviewed by the electoral committee on Sunday.
The state capture commission, which released its final report in June 2023, found there was a symbiotic relationship between the ANC and politically connected individuals and private companies. It found that state-owned enterprises and government departments were rendered dysfunctional to divert public funds for private benefit. It also highlighted how the actions of the Gupta family, through their proximity to former president Jacob Zuma, hollowed out state institutions.
Senior ANC members were implicated, including mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe; the party’s head of organising Nomvula Mokonyane; and deputy minister of human settlements, water & sanitation David Mahlobo.
The inclusion of candidates who have been accused of state capture in the party’s list of public representatives has been a bone of contention between ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and the ANC Veterans League in the run-up to the conclusion of the party’s list processes. The league, led by Snuki Zikalala, has called for members implicated in corruption or state capture to be excluded as candidates for parliament and the legislature.
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