ANC caucus not factional: Jackson Mthembu

One had hoped the Sunday Times would find the ANC caucus midterm lekgotla’s frank deliberations on the state of the majority party in parliament and the political challenges confronting it sufficiently newsworthy without the necessity to spice with wild sensationalism and over-hyped conjectures.

Instead, the paper descended into farfetched conspiracy theories to perplexingly conclude the crucial three-day lekgotla, held to reinvigorate and strengthen the movement’s work in Parliament, represented some sort of a ‘quiet revolt’ by ‘the anti- Zuma faction’. Read the story here.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When the media creates illusionary strives, even where they do not exist, accuracy becomes a casualty and the opportunity to factually inform is lost.

In candidly assessing its performance and the negative perceptions bedevilling the movement, the lekgotla was unanimous that henceforth things ought to be done differently in parliament. 

The majority party must learn from its mistakes and self-correct to reaffirm itself as a dependable, trustworthy and accountable force to intensify the project of liberating South Africa from poverty, unemployment and inequality.

That the handling of Nkandla matter presented valuable lessons to be learned is a matter which not only the ANC broadly pronounced, but also welcomed the Constitutional Court judgement as a valuable guide.

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The Sunday Times’s characterisation of ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s reassertion of this view, in the context of the lekgotla discussion on bolstering the ANC’s parliamentary oversight and performance, as “part of a strategy by an anti-Zuma faction” is grossly misleading and unnecessarily sensationalist.

It is inconceivable that the majority party in parliament would sit for three days in a midterm lekgotla for sheer ‘factional’ strategy, as is suggested in the report.

The only strategic approach that both the chief whip and the lekgotla were preoccupied with is ensuring the ANC put its majority and its excellent policies to good use by advancing superior arguments to advance meaningful executive oversight that ensures significant impact on the lives of the people.

Faltering in this resolve is tantamount to outsourcing our parliamentary mandate to the opposition or needlessly inviting the courts to babysit parliament. The narrative that the ANC is soft on corruption and allows wrongdoing and maladministration to go unpunished is a reputational damage that an ANC-driven parliamentary oversight must not only undo, but must be seen to be undoing, without fear or favour.

The ANC has begun reinforcing its oversight by bolstering its research and legal professional support, toughening up on discipline and strengthening committee work.

The recent alterations in the constitution of the communications portfolio committee is thus part of strengthening committees by harnessing strengths and competencies of our MPs to maximise oversight outcomes. It has nothing to do with MPs’ alleged posture on certain issues as spuriously inferred by the paper.

The unanimous consensus emerging out of the lekgotla is that it shall no longer be business as usual; the ANC in Parliament must in both words and deed, regain moral high ground, vigorously advance clean governance, champion the fight against corruption and shun incompetence.

Ethical moral uprightness, informed by the Constitution and the progressive laws which are the creation of this movement, shall serve as the guiding principle of our oversight.

Mothapo is the spokesperson for the ANC caucus in parliament.