“I'm not ready to be governed by criminals,” says Rev Frank Chikane as he takes over at the ANC’s integrity commission.
Chikane and the commissioners briefed journalists for the first time since being appointed about three months ago. They are tasked with holding accountable ANC leaders and members who go against the ethical values of the organisation.
Chikane said that as much as there was widespread corruption in the ANC, graft transcended the confines of the party and was now a nationwide problem.
The integrity commission would do its bit to ensure that the corruption and criminality that had become synonymous with the country was dealt with.
“We need to make sure that criminals don't take over the country, for now criminals are running us — in terms of Eskom for instance, we have darkness here because criminals are holding us ransom — and we need to break it,” said Chikane.
“I wouldn't give up, otherwise I would be giving up my country. I'm not ready to be governed by criminals and I'm not ready to be run by syndicates. So we're not going to give up, we're going to turn it around and it needs hard work and the commission is here to help solve this particular problem.”
Theirs, Chikane said explaining the role of the IC, was not to only haul over the coals those facing criminal charges but to operate at a much higher level where and police ethics and morality rather than crime.
“You can go to court and say I've not committed a crime but actually you have acted unethically,” he said. “There's a difference between criminal conduct and ethical behaviour — obviously criminal conduct is unethical but there are ethical issues that are not measured on whether you've committed a crime: your behaviour has brought the organisation into disrepute [even though] you may not go to jail for it. So the commission operates at a higher level where you deal with integrity issues, not just criminal issues.”
Chikane said one of the biggest concerns was that some of the people who appear before the commission seem to not grasp what was meant by integrity, morality and ethics.
“This issue of integrity most people don’t understand. The commissioners have met so many people, and among those people clearly when you interact with them you can see that they have recalibrated their understanding of ethics,” said Chikane. “They don’t say that if you do something that’s unethical it’s a problem. But once you recalibrate like that then you’ve got a serious problem.”
Chikane takes over from George Mashamba. During his tenure the commission dealt with many cases that involved senior party leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal, Zweli Mkhize’s Digital Vibes corruption, Ace Magashule’s asbestos corruption scandal, and the VBS Mutual Bank theft, among others.
On Phala Phala, Mashamba and his team found, in what was said to be a draft report, that the scandal had brought the party into disrepute but could not explicitly say who should be held accountable.
The ethics body said at the time it could not determine whether it was Ramaphosa, those who worked on the farm, Arthur Fraser, who laid the charges, or ANC members and leaders.
Magashule’s battles with the party could also be traced back to the commission after it came out guns blazing after his court appearance recommending, in no uncertain terms, that he should immediately step down as the then secretary-general of the party.
Chikane takes over from the team that raised concerns about how some of its reports and recommendations gathered dust at Magashule’s office and were never presented to the national executive committee (NEC).
“Since I've come we've interacted with the new leadership and I'm pleased to say that they have expressed support for what we are appointed to do. We raised the issue of cases that were referred to the NEC which were not acted upon and we said that they need to act on them because if they did not our role becomes not useful. We are there to assist the organisation to be what it is supposed to be. And I am pleased that there is commitment to do that,” Chikane said.
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'I'm not ready to be governed by criminals': Frank Chikane takes over ANC integrity body
“I'm not ready to be governed by criminals,” says Rev Frank Chikane as he takes over at the ANC’s integrity commission.
Chikane and the commissioners briefed journalists for the first time since being appointed about three months ago. They are tasked with holding accountable ANC leaders and members who go against the ethical values of the organisation.
Chikane said that as much as there was widespread corruption in the ANC, graft transcended the confines of the party and was now a nationwide problem.
The integrity commission would do its bit to ensure that the corruption and criminality that had become synonymous with the country was dealt with.
“We need to make sure that criminals don't take over the country, for now criminals are running us — in terms of Eskom for instance, we have darkness here because criminals are holding us ransom — and we need to break it,” said Chikane.
“I wouldn't give up, otherwise I would be giving up my country. I'm not ready to be governed by criminals and I'm not ready to be run by syndicates. So we're not going to give up, we're going to turn it around and it needs hard work and the commission is here to help solve this particular problem.”
Theirs, Chikane said explaining the role of the IC, was not to only haul over the coals those facing criminal charges but to operate at a much higher level where and police ethics and morality rather than crime.
“You can go to court and say I've not committed a crime but actually you have acted unethically,” he said. “There's a difference between criminal conduct and ethical behaviour — obviously criminal conduct is unethical but there are ethical issues that are not measured on whether you've committed a crime: your behaviour has brought the organisation into disrepute [even though] you may not go to jail for it. So the commission operates at a higher level where you deal with integrity issues, not just criminal issues.”
Chikane said one of the biggest concerns was that some of the people who appear before the commission seem to not grasp what was meant by integrity, morality and ethics.
“This issue of integrity most people don’t understand. The commissioners have met so many people, and among those people clearly when you interact with them you can see that they have recalibrated their understanding of ethics,” said Chikane. “They don’t say that if you do something that’s unethical it’s a problem. But once you recalibrate like that then you’ve got a serious problem.”
Chikane takes over from George Mashamba. During his tenure the commission dealt with many cases that involved senior party leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal, Zweli Mkhize’s Digital Vibes corruption, Ace Magashule’s asbestos corruption scandal, and the VBS Mutual Bank theft, among others.
On Phala Phala, Mashamba and his team found, in what was said to be a draft report, that the scandal had brought the party into disrepute but could not explicitly say who should be held accountable.
The ethics body said at the time it could not determine whether it was Ramaphosa, those who worked on the farm, Arthur Fraser, who laid the charges, or ANC members and leaders.
Magashule’s battles with the party could also be traced back to the commission after it came out guns blazing after his court appearance recommending, in no uncertain terms, that he should immediately step down as the then secretary-general of the party.
Chikane takes over from the team that raised concerns about how some of its reports and recommendations gathered dust at Magashule’s office and were never presented to the national executive committee (NEC).
“Since I've come we've interacted with the new leadership and I'm pleased to say that they have expressed support for what we are appointed to do. We raised the issue of cases that were referred to the NEC which were not acted upon and we said that they need to act on them because if they did not our role becomes not useful. We are there to assist the organisation to be what it is supposed to be. And I am pleased that there is commitment to do that,” Chikane said.
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