'Person who has the bigger purse has the bigger chance of ascending’: Sisulu on election of ANC leaders

Tourism minister and ANC presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu has called for the ANC conference to look at a policy to regulate the use of money in the election of its leaders. 

Sisulu was speaking on SABC News this week on issues affecting the ANC and the country. The minister is among senior ANC members who will vie for the ANC presidential position at the party’s national conference in December.

She said she hopes nominations from branches for candidates, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, are not the result of financial inducement. 

“I hope these are not people who are given money to vote in a particular way. That is something in this conference we’re going to need to take a resolution on. How do we fund people who are standing,” said Sisulu.

She said ANC members who have a “bigger purse have a bigger opportunity of ascending”, and that it is no longer about the values of the party but how much money people have to ensure their name appears on the ballot. 

She said members must do away with using money to elect leaders, saying the money used to allegedly buy votes could be used to build houses or improve infrastructure. 

In 2020, former Gauteng premier Tokyo Sexwale alleged money was used to influence the outcome of the party’s 2017 Nasrec elective conference. 

Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, Sexwale said the Nasrec conference was bought and unity, which deputy president David Mabuza used to convince delegates to support him, was “false or fake”. 

“Nasrec was a shocker. Money was used to buy the conference. People have a lot of money from the government, and people marshalled money from outside. You buy a conference,” he said. 

Sexwale said the current leadership was controlled by money, either sourced through government positions or from the private sector. 

“We no longer understand our moral compass. Morally, ethically and politically, we have let our people down. How is it happening? It is because of money,” he said. 

Former KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature deputy speaker Meshack Radebe made similar allegations in 2019.

In an interview with IOL, Radebe alleged he witnessed delegates being paid in exchange for swaying their votes. 

He said this is what made him decide to quit government. 

“In the hotel where I was staying (in Johannesburg) cash was given out in the foyer. Delegates would come in buses to collect cash.

“One of the leaders who was giving out money is now a minister. Delegates were each counting R5,000, R3,000, R4,000. Others were complaining the money they had received was not enough,” said Radebe.

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