ANC won’t decide on Mchunu’s fate until full report is received, says Mbalula

The ANC says it will study the parliamentary ad hoc committee’s draft report into suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu before taking a formal position.

Speaking outside the Truth and Reconciliation Commission inquiry in Johannesburg on Wednesday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula cautioned against reacting to snippets of the report before the party had considered it in full.

This after the draft report by the committee exonerated Mchunu of criminality.

Mbalula said the party does not want to make a decision based on an incomplete report.

“We have not yet received the full report. I do not want to speculate or respond based on snippets. As of late yesterday, the report was not yet finalised,” he said.

“We will study it carefully before making any conclusive remarks because it has implications for us as a party, particularly as it relates to the minister who the ANC deployed to serve as minister of police.”

The committee’s draft report concludes there is no evidence proving Mchunu had a corrupt agreement with, or acted on behalf of, criminal syndicates or drug cartels.

It nonetheless found unresolved integrity concerns and said executive accountability issues remain.

“We have seen snippets suggesting findings relating to the minister, but we need to consider the report in its entirety. Yesterday, when I asked about the report, I was told it was not yet conclusive,” said Mbalula.

“We have meetings every Monday. I will receive the report and we will process it through our internal structures, as we usually do. Once that process has been completed, we will communicate the ANC’s position on the report,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mbalula said the ANC was in the final stages of selecting its mayoral candidates and ward representatives for the upcoming local elections.

“We should be done this weekend. We are very much on track. We’re almost done with the metro municipalities and are finalising them today. By the end of the week, and into Monday, we’ll be done with the secondary cities,” he said.

“Once the vetting processes are completed, we should be ready to announce our lists over the next two to three weeks.”

He said the candidate selection process had been one of the party’s most rigorous, involving more than 10,000 candidates across the country.

“The process has been very rigorous and important for us. It has also highlighted some of the weaknesses within the system from the point of view of deployment and the challenges we are facing in local government.”

Mbalula said the ANC would officially launch its local government election campaign in August.

He brushed aside the defection of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, saying the move came as no surprise.

“There were issues between us and Ms Zandile. It is not really a shock because, with the current political landscape, we knew Jacob Zuma would become the face of the MK Party.

“She has chosen her path and decided to follow her heart by joining Zuma. We will continue to do what is necessary, which is what we have always done, work for the people of South Africa.”

Gumede was announced in Durban this week as the MK Party’s deputy convener in KwaZulu-Natal.

Sowetan