IN QUOTES | Accountability and investigations: ANC KZN takes action

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says it has instructed leaders who have pending court cases to step aside until investigations are concluded.

Provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli said this is to ensure transparency and accountability. He addressed the media on the outcomes of the two-day provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting.

Ntuli also announced the closure of investigations into the letter penned by an anonymous source who alleged abuse at the hands of senior leaders PEC member Jomo Sibiya, co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Sipho Hlomuka and Newcastle mayor Ntuthuko Mahlaba.

Here are five key quotes from the briefing:

Gender-based violence and racism

“The PEC decided to establish campaign structures at all levels of the organisation, which will focus on complementing the work done by the women's league in the fight against GBV.

“We will not register sustainable victories unless we also transform the structure and ownership of the economy. The exclusion of Africans is a major challenge with we must confront and change.”

The contents of the letter

“The task team shared its contact details with the public to ensure that it can be accessed without difficulties. The PEC received the report of the task team yesterday, which pointed out that nobody appeared before it, and therefore the anonymous allegation could not have a face for further interrogation to extract facts.

“The PEC agreed that the investigations on the three leaders of the ANC is now officially closed, since nobody appeared to take ownership of the letter.”

Accountability

“We wanted the NEC to ensure that there is a consolidated list across the country [of members who are facing charges] and that members who are part of that list must be convened, called by the organisation and be told about the decision, and be given a specific time and date at which they must act on that decision, so that anybody who fails to act, its is known that they are acting in defiance of the movement.”

Outcomes of investigations 

“Unless we know the nature of the case, which is what the integrity commission will have to deal with, we would not be 100% empowered to say that the conclusion will be the same for all comrades. The commission will make an assessment of the extent to which the standing of these comrades affects the reputation of the ANC.”

Local government elections 

“The lockdown has created difficulties for the ANC. We are preparing for local government elections but not at the level at which we should be. That is also impacting on our ability to prepare for regional conferences because the likelihood is that we won't have any conferences before the end of this year.”