The ANC needs to elect a president that will repair the party's credibility and dignity, national executive committee member Pallo Jordan said on Thursday.
"Whoever the ANC membership elects in November will have to grasp the nettle of restoring the ANC's dented credibility and dignity to the office of the president," he wrote in an opinion piece in the Business Day.
Jordan said former president Thabo Mbeki's "aloofness" could not prevent party members from assuming there was "wheeling and dealing" behind the NEC's back. This led to him being isolated in the party, and his eventual replacement.
"For many in the ANC, Jacob Zuma's election promised relief from the managed internal democracy of Mbeki's incumbency," he wrote.
"Instead, it has been marked by political problems, most notably a radical decline in the ANC's credibility. Zuma's own actions have also stripped the office he holds of dignity."
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