ANC’s Ntuli vows to crack the whip on members who flout parliament rules

Newly elected parliamentary chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli has vowed to crack the whip on ministers in the ANC caucus who fail to abide by parliament's rules. 

In the past, the ANC has been found wanting for disregarding parliamentary committees' work to oversee departments. 

In the last administration, senior minister Pravin Gordhan was called out by parliament for failing to appear before the portfolio committee on public enterprises. 

In December the committee criticised Gordhan for refusing to submit key documents necessary for its investigation into allegations of irregularities in the SAA transaction. 

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Ntuli said complacency by ministers who decide when and if they should appear before parliament would not apply in the seventh administration.

“I don't think it's going to be applicable in this term because the situation has changed, we are in a new terrain. That complacency was cultivated by the fact that in any case, we are the majority, even if I don't turn up it means it's not going to be difficult in terms of making decisions.

“We don't have that luxury any more. But second, one will have to find a way to instil a particular conduct in the caucus of the ANC,” he said.

Ntuli said part of the challenge in the organisation was that party leaders do not consciously cultivate and celebrate excellence, while simultaneously condemning mediocracy. 

He said what has tended to happen was that ANC leaders were allowed to operate at a substandard level.

He said that this was partly why some ministers of the ANC tended to disregard parliament as they believed there wouldn't be any consequences for their conduct.

“It's a reflection of the state of an organisation that must be radically renewed, to respond to the demands of the day. It's exactly the same conduct that in one way or the other had a contribution to the perception of the population about the ANC as a consequence of which we ended up not in gaining a majority support.

“So my own view is that we are going to have to convey that message to our caucus and to our comrades, and insist on them, that some of you by way of your actions or failing to act, you have contributed to the demise of the [ANC].

“And if you are a genuine member of the ANC, we've got to agree from here forth that there is a standard we are going to have to meet and there's a level of behaviour that must be associated with us as members of the ANC.”

Ntuli said while he was not a leader who shouted and undermined his subordinates in the ANC, he was still a firm leader when necessary. 

“Those who work with me know that on matters of principle, I can be very firm, irrespective of who you are. I'm known by those who lead with me that when the situation demands, I can be very firm.

“And one thing that I pride myself on is that over the years I have been a leader of the ANC, and is the same trajectory I want to sustain, it's difficult to associate me with unprincipled decisions, especially where I have the possibility or the authority to influence the direction of the decision,” he said.

The ANC has previously been criticised even by those within its ranks on its decisions to protect its leaders at all costs in parliament. 

This was the practice by the ANC caucus which held the majority during the Jacob Zuma presidency. 

In 2016, the apex court delivered a scathing judgment in the Nkandla case finding that MPs violated the constitution and their oath of office by failing to hold Zuma accountable for the spending on his private compound.

The landmark judgment by the Constitutional Court found parliament to have acted unlawfully to exonerate Zuma without subjecting the public protectors report to a judicial review process.

The ANC caucus was again found wanting when it protected President Cyril Ramaphosa from a possible impeachment emanating from the Phala Phala scandal. 

Ntuli's predecessor Pemmy Majodina had to enforce ANC rules on the ANC caucus when some party leaders voted with the opposition. 

Its biggest critique during that time was former President Thabo Mbeki, who wrote an impassioned letter to deputy president Paul Mashatile.

Mbeki bemoaned the ANC for instructing its MPs to block the parliamentary inquiries that would have probed the Phala Phala matter, after a section 89 panel found Ramaphosa might have an impeachable case to answer to.

Mbeki argued to block the process of the formation of a parliamentary committee and communicated the unequivocal statement that the ANC does not want parliament to seek and gain a deeper and comprehensive understanding of the Phala Phala matter.

Mbeki criticised the ANC for wanting to protect its president at all costs. 

Ntuli, who has taken over the reins over a much-weakened ANC caucus, said its leaders cannot conduct themselves in such a manner that imposes a burden on the ANC to protect them. 

“The leadership of the ANC at all levels, must conduct themselves in such a way that makes it almost impossible for them to be the subject of parliament. I think that is the first thing that we need to find a way to do.

“And I hope and believe that, as we started the term, none of us would want to be in a situation that we have had to deal with in the past. My own view is that there is no better mechanism to avoid the repetition of that ugly past, except individually, all of us, really conducting ourselves in such a manner that makes it unnecessary for parliament to have to convene to discuss our own individual circumstances.”

In such cases when the ANC will be forced to close its ranks, Ntuli said it will have to think “creatively about how best to convey its own positions on the matter, such that the majority of the parties in various committees support that the ANC's logic is the logic that is in the best interest of the country”. 

“But the first thing that I think we've got to do is for each one of us to understand that we can't be the subject of parliament, either because of our act of omission or because of the act of commission. We've got to conduct ourselves in such a manner that makes it impossible for parliament to either set up committees or to convene to discuss our own issues,” he said. 

TimesLIVE