The policy response of the ANC to one of its most significant post-apartheid challenges, corruption and state capture, will be remembered as a rare commitment by a political party to restore its integrity with society. Establishing the integrity commission allows ANC members to undergo a process where they can explain themselves to assess the impact of their actions on the ANC, regardless of whether they are found guilty or not.
This process is primarily concerned with the ANC's reputation rather than the individual member or leader involved. Once a member enters the process, they understand its finality and the necessity of stepping down for adjudication authorities to decide. It is logical that, once in the process, a member cannot participate in any voter-facing activities. This includes addressing its rallies and public lectures.
The ANC started its renewal process by adopting a member-integrity management policy. It was an effort to restore its leader-of-society standing in South Africa. This aimed to leverage its social and political influence to gain political authority over corruption and state capture. The boundaries of right and wrong were beginning to be recognised as the ANC found space to define them.
While the adoption of the member-integrity management system is plausible, it is hindered by the character of its members. As a multigenerational organisation with a rich historical background and increasing longevity, the blurring of generational interests is hampering the normative political movement that aims to confront a future free from corruption and party capture.
While the adoption of the member-integrity management system is plausible, it is hindered by the character of its members. As a multigenerational organisation with a rich historical background and increasing longevity, the blurring of generational interests is hampering the normative political movement that aims to confront a future free from corruption and party capture. Interests spanning multiple generations, fostered within funded internal factions and coalitions supporting or opposing member integrity, are growing stronger each day. Unfortunately, the most toxic elements in any good solution often tend to prevail.
Consider the “on-leave-of-absence” minister of police Senzo Mchunu, who is waiting for the commission of inquiry to locate and clarify his standing regarding [KZN police commissioner] Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations. While he has maintained relative silence and has not pleaded, having him continue to be part of the freely elected public representatives envisaged in the constitution undermines its founding principles and values. The most prudent course of action, which the ANC member-integrity management system advocates, is for him to step aside entirely, and the ANC should lead the normative charge.
It is not in the ANC’s interest to handle the Mchunu matter like it did with past leaders who found themselves on the wrong side of public perception. Allowing platforms for him to make accusations or other comments, outside the timely and respectful fact-finding process that the president has established, is inappropriate. The ANC's response could lead to Mkhwanazi, who may not emerge unscathed from this incident, becoming a new version of Kwezi, only with integrity and normative governance being the victim of the crime. The rallies and public forums, especially those held in the name of an iconic figure like Nelson Mandela, could reopen old wounds caused by past mistakes that undermined public trust in the ANC.
Of course, the principle of innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of South Africa's criminal justice system and a vital component of the human rights framework. The reputational damage caused by insisting on innocence despite prima facie evidence far exceeds the consequences of not acting to uphold the obligations of a just society. A commitment to the rule of law begins by allowing the criminal justice system to process those accused.
It is no secret that ANC NEC member Mchunu is part of the ANC's succession interests. He represents, or at most forms, the recent history of the ANC’s leadership contestation rather than its brief surface. As a system within the organisation, ANC succession politics has become an inherently fragile ensemble that can suddenly descend into all sorts of leadership chaos without anyone foreseeing it. Factors such as those surrounding Mchunu might lead to leadership choice positions like, nobody but Mchunu for president, despite the reputational cost that may come to the ANC.
As the leader of the GNU governing arrangements, the ANC's commitment to its member-integrity management system for the country’s sake is at stake. There have been notable missteps in its application, which may have undermined it. However, the moral legitimacy of the need to adhere to it far outweighs the inconsistency in its implementation, making abandonment unwarranted.
Until it has completed its unfortunate journey of liquidating its hard-earned social and political capital, the ANC must accept that in politics, it serves as a means of registering, resolving, altering or maintaining conflicts of interest. It is the nexus. In Nelson Mandela’s words, the ANC should adopt a mantra that whenever any of its leaders does what previous leaders who have had to step aside did to it, they must do to them what it did to those it expelled.
Suppose there is an authority that believes Mchunu is guilty. In that case, this article neither supports nor opposes it, but contests any notion that suggests he has reputationally damaging allegations to answer.
• Dr FM Lucky Mathebula is the Head of Faculty, People Management, and founder of The Thinc Foundation, a think-tank based at the Da Vinci Institute. He is a TUT research associate.
For opinion and analysis consideration, e-mail Opinions@timeslive.co.za
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