ANC state capture accused not yet barred from national and provincial lists
With only a week left for political parties to submit a list of their national and provincial candidates prior to elections, the ANC electoral committee has not received any instruction to exclude members implicated in the state capture report.
This is according to the committee secretary Livhuwani Matsila.
“We have not been informed of such a decision but we are meeting with the officials tomorrow [Thursday]. They will tell us if there’s that decision,” he said.
This is despite secretary general Fikile Mbalula previously saying that in addressing the concerns of ANC members and South Africans, the party leadership would urgently act to address the unethical behaviour and ill-discipline of all members.
“We are determined that only members whose reputations are beyond reproach will be included in our list of candidates for parliament and provincial legislatures. This means that those implicated by the Zondo commission will not be included in our lists if their names have not been cleared by the ANC integrity commission,” Mbalula said.
At least 97 ANC members were mentioned in the state capture report, including heavyweights such as national chairperson and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa, Deputy Defence Minister Thabang Makwetla, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo as well as former ministers and current ANC MPs.
The ANC Veterans’ League has repeatedly stated that the party should bar those implicated in the state capture report from standing as public representatives as it taints the image of the party.
The ANC’s slow pace in dealing with the matter led to one of its senior stalwarts and deputy president Mavuso Msimang resigning in December only to rescind his resignation after discussions with senior officials who reportedly committed to excluding the implicated members.
After Msimang withdrew his resignation, Mbalula released a statement saying the party would act with urgency to address the unethical behaviour and ill-discipline of members, including leaders of the party.
“We are determined that only members whose reputations are beyond reproach will be included in our list of candidates for parliament and provincial legislatures. This means that those implicated by the Zondo commission will not be included in our lists if their names have not been cleared by the ANC Integrity Commission,” read the statement.
The party’s rules stipulate that those who have been criminally charged should step aside from their positions.
Earlier this month ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the party had not entered into discussions about whether those implicated in the state capture report should be included in the legislature lists.
With the deadline of 8 March approaching for parties to submit their candidates for national and provincial lists, Matsila said the ANC would be ready to submit its lists.
“We will have the extended national executive committee [NEC] on Sunday which will adopt all the national lists and all the provincial lists. Thereafter we will be ready to register them in accordance with the deadline set by the NEC which is the 8th of March,” he said.
He said the vetting of candidates who would be on the lists was a tedious exercise but the party had the capacity to do it.
“Part of what will go to the NEC will be the vetting issues, not details of names but how people look on the list in general, how many people passed the vetting and stuff like that.”
Mastila added that there was no specific vetting for those who would be premiers or speakers.
“We vet candidates; if you become a premier sometimes you are from the list that we are processing, therefore you are part of the vetting process. If you are going to be a speaker, you are likely to be elected from the same list.”
Asked whether there would be major changes in terms of the MPs list and if the committee encountered pushback on individuals who may not necessarily qualify to be part of the list, Matsila said: “It’s still early to say that because the list still has to be approved and once it’s approved, we will be able to show some threads.
“So far so good, there’s no uproar around the list, it’s quiet. It is as quiet as the sea sometimes. When you do not have people that complain in the media space then you understand the process is [going] well.”
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has already declined nomination to go back to parliament and Naledi Pandor is rumoured to have also declined. Matsila could not say which other ANC seniors had declined nomination.
“As we clean up the list, we will be able to ascertain that. For us, this thing of big or small names is not a thing. You guys look at it in that way but we just see our comrade.”