The ANC can keep or sack whoever from its leadership structures but owes it to the public to ensure its decisions do not spill over to state organs.
National party officials have been tasked with coming up with a system that would detail how to deal with leaders who are formally charged with serious crimes. This was after a national executive committee (NEC) meeting recently could not unanimously agree that secretary-general Ace Magashule, who is facing corruption charges, should step aside from his duties.
In his remarks at the end of this meeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “We confirm the firm stance we have taken on corruption and wrongdoing within our ranks and society. There will be no dilution of this ... we will fully implement decisions taken at conferences and at the NEC, understanding that these are fundamental for our movement.”
The ANC NEC took a resolution at its 2012 and 2017 elective conferences that members formally charged with corruption or other wrongdoing must step aside pending the outcome of their cases.
However, Magashule, who is facing 21 counts of corruption, keeps his powerful position in the party for now and will appear before the integrity commission later this week instead.
Magashule practically runs the party's affairs, which include deploying members to parliament. No wonder MP Bongani Bongo is still chairing a portfolio committee even though he has been criminally charged and appeared in court. How can Magashule recall him when he's also fighting to hold on to his position despite the pending case against him?
The ANC has a right to choose or keep whoever it wants to lead it, even though keeping someone charged with corruption at the helm does not augur well for the party with the electorate. This is a crucial time to show that it is serious about rooting out corruption within its ranks and in government, in time for the local government elections next year.
State organs must be spared from bad decisions. Bongo should have been recalled as an MP by now, until his criminal case has been finalised.
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