One of President Cyril Ramaphosa's uppermost policy reforms aimed at cleaning the battered image of the ANC – the step-aside rule – is set to come under heavy assault at the party's policy conference at the weekend.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal became the second province after Limpopo at the weekend to raise the temperature on the resolution, with the province insisting “it must not only be reviewed but scrapped”. Limpopo, which is the second-biggest ANC province after KwaZulu-Natal by membership, had resolved that the resolution must be reviewed.
According to several provincial leaders who spoke to Sowetan on Monday, the resolution took centre stage at various provincial general councils ahead of the policy conference in Nasrec at the weekend.
The rule, which is part of resolutions taken at the ANC's 54th conference held in Nasrec in 2017, precludes party members who are criminally charged from holding leadership positions until they have cleared their names. It resulted in high-profile party leaders being put on ice, including suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule who is facing multiple charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering.
Though it is part of ANC guidelines to determine the kind of leaders elected to positions of power, after years of public outcry over endemic corruption in the state it has become a matter of huge public interest.
But KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo on Sunday launched the first assault on the step-aside rule saying it constrained the party from discharging its duties as members were constantly fighting among themselves over what he said was the disparity in the implementation of the rule.
“The conference resolves that delegates towards the national conference must forward the complete proposal that the step-aside must not only be reviewed but must be scrapped.”
Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said the discussions around the step-aside rule would be a contentious issue, adding that his province was debating the policy discussion documents.
“Step aside is part of the renewal programme of the ANC and it’s about bringing morals and ethics back into the organisation.
“Step aside is one of the interventions that speaks directly to cadres who’ve been found on the wrong side of the law and it’s a necessary intervention as far as the Eastern Cape is concerned,” he said.
“But we do have to regulate it to ensure it’s not applied in a discriminatory manner. What’s needed is to moderate the rule and make sure it doesn’t affect members unduly, firm it up, but at the end of the day the national elective conference in December is the final arbiter on policy amendments.”
Since its inception, the rule has created divisions in the ANC with those affected saying its implementation applied only to those who were perceived to be President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political opponents.
ANC Veterans League president Snuki Zikalala said he believed the resolution was still credible and the only policy to restore the integrity of the ANC. He said calls for the policy review were “a pushback by people who benefited from looted state resources”.
“If a person is charged, why should they retain their position? What kind of message are we sending to residents and voters. Any organisation worth its soul will never allow members to continue occupying leadership positions,” Zikalala said.
ANC Mpumalanga provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa said the province still supported the step-aside resolution.
“We will be issuing our position in the next few days after the PGC but for now it might be premature to pronounce. The stance of the province in Mpumalanga is to cleanse the organisation of the ills that are there.
“We know this PGC may resolve to strengthen it, [call for a] proper coordinator, clearer implementation and understanding of the rules by all so there’s not many interpretations, which is where the contestation lies,” he said.
“Scrapping it [the step-aside rule] will take the ANC far back and reverse whatever gains it’s had in the fight against corruption.”
North West coordinator for the ANC's interim provincial committee, Hlomane Chauke, said the structure believed the resolution is correct until reviewed by conference.
“We support the resolution as it stands. If any person believes that they're targeted [through the step-aside rule] they must prove it,” Chauke said.
Free State ANC spokesperson Oupa Khoabane said the province had its policy discussions on Saturday and among these was organisational renewal where the step-aside rule was discussed.
Khoabane said a decision was taken that all proposals flowing from the commission be taken to the interim provincial committee for refinement before the party’s policy conference.
“Our experience as a province is that the implementation of the policy has been inconsistent. Some people do step aside and others don’t. What we have also expressed is that if people are charged, we would like the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] to ensure that they speed up the process,” Khoabane said.
“You are charged and leave your duties in the organisation and government for two to three years, after five years the state withdraws [the case]. It is torturing on individuals. When people are charged the state must have done enough work to say that we really have a case here.”
Limpopo ANC spokesperson Jimmy Machaka said they expected the issue to top the discussions “because it has caused more harm than good to the organisation”.
“The movement is highly divided. The organisation has spent most of its time on debating the issues for years than firmly focusing on service delivery to our people,” he said.,
• dlaminip@sowetan.co.za and
• nkosin@sowetan.co.za
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