SUNDAY MORNING ASSESSMENT: Time ANC rid itself of questionable leaders

THE election of two African National Congress regional chairmen in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape last weekend has sharply highlighted the ruling party's controversial selection of leaders.

Former Msunduzi deputy mayor Alpha Shelembe was announced as the new chairman of the Moses Mabhida region (Pietermaritzburg), while former Buffalo City mayor Zukiswa Faku won the election to lead the ANC in the greater East London region.

While the two regional conferences took place independently of each other, it is the questionable character of the two leaders that is of concern.

Shelembe is currently facing charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering. It is alleged that he played a role in the selling of a building to the district municipality at an inflated price.

Last year, he resigned as the ANC regional treasurer and deputy mayor after allegations that he had a hand in the burning down of the ANC's offices there. He was later acquitted on the charge of arson.

Faku, on the other hand, was dumped as mayor in 2011 following a tumultuous political career dogged by allegations of corruption and maladministration.

Last year, she was implicated in a forensic report by audit firm Ernst & Young which uncovered the mismanagement of funds totalling R2-billion during her term as mayor.

Despite their questionable and chequered past, the two were toasted and celebrated in their respective constituencies as worthy leaders of the ruling party.

Their election comes at a time when the ANC has begun a conversation on the type of "cadre" the party needs and should cultivate.

In its discussion documents - to form part of debates at the national policy conference in June - the party acknowledges that it faces a "crisis of credibility".

As part of those discussions, the party will examine the conduct of its members and leaders at all levels - from factionalism to "perceptions of corruption within the ANC and how we act in such instances", according to its policy head, Jeff Radebe.

However, it seems this message has not filtered down to the party's branches.

If it has, no one is heeding it.

Very little (if any) assessment of candidates vying for leadership positions is done. Instead, factionalism and vote-buying often determine the outcome of elections.

With the ANC due to elect a new leadership at its Mangaung conference in December, ironically some of the branch members who elected Shelembe and Faku will be the ones to decide the ruling party's next leaders and, by extension, the leadership of the country.

Perhaps the time has come for the ANC to develop that long-overdue policy that bars questionable characters from occupying positions of power. Otherwise its credibility will be completely lost.