It was Valentine’s Day eve 2018 when the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) officially recalled the then-president Jacob Zuma.
At the time, the highly divided NEC was just two months into its term after being elected at the party’s 54th national conference in Nasrec. The divisions in the structure, which is the highest decision-making body between conference, could not be any clearer. The officials, however, managed to put their differences aside and agreed to deliver the news to Zuma that it was about time he left office.
It was reported that even those on Zuma's side of the faction, such as presidential contender Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, stood up in the meeting to support the calls for Zuma’s removal.
Now, two years down the line, the structure finds itself in a similar situation. This time, it is presented with a report from its integrity commission which has recommended that the party’s embattled secretary-general Ace Magashule step down from his duties until his corruption case has come to its conclusion.
When the decision on Zuma was made there was no report, but the meeting agreed that the economic climate — as well as allegations that the Gupta family had captured the state under his watch — were enough to warrant his recall.
It was also agreed at the time that having two presidents — one for the ANC and another for the republic — was a recipe for disaster. The ANC tradition is that the two positions must be held by one person.
The same structure will now have to decide the fate of one of Zuma’s strongest allies. The NEC is under pressure to decide whether to adopt a report calling for Magashule to immediately step down.
“There is no crisis whatsoever and we will come out of this. To differ does not mean crisis. We have dealt with bigger challenges. We removed a president, man, a sitting president. And we have found each other, so we will find each other this time around,” said an ANC NEC member, who asked not to be named.
But the difference is that while Zuma was South African president, he was no longer head of the party after he vacated his position at Nasrec, so he had lost control of party structures. Magashule, meanwhile, is in charge of day-to-day operations of the party and has great influence in ANC structures.
There are three factors at play when it comes to Magashule.
First, he is facing criminal charges in the form of 21 counts of corruption at a time when the ANC is under immense pressure to rid itself of corruption or to distance itself from those who stand accused of it.
Second, he is not deployed in government. Action against Magashule, who is one of the most senior party members, sitting in the top six, will give the public confidence that perhaps the ANC is serious about fighting corruption.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, there is now a scathing report from the party’s integrity commission stating clearly that Magashule must step down. The report also states that the former Free State premier also gave an undertaking that he will not resist any sanctions.
The report is scathing of the NEC, accusing the structure of hiding behind legal opinions to avoid taking action when the party took overarching resolutions around when to ask a deployee to step aside.
The resolution to which the commission refers was adopted at the conference in 2017 and later affirmed by the NEC meeting on August, saying it was drawing the line in the sand in its fight against corrupt members. It states that those who have been formally charged for corruption or any other serious crimes must “immediately step aside from all leadership positions in the ANC, legislatures or other government structures” until their cases have been concluded.
The commission rebuked the NEC for continuously failing to implement this resolution, which has led to the organisation being associated with corruption or being to seen to be shielding those who are accused.
“The NEC seems to be doubting the soundness and correctness of its own conference resolutions including its own decisions, especially those that deal with corruption,” the commission said in a report signed by its chairperson George Mashamba.
“The IC is worried that the officials and the NEC are increasingly making use of legal opinions to avoid implementing resolutions that are essentially ethical and political and that it has continuously promised SA it would implement.”
Recommendations of the commission have been known to gather dust at Luthuli House. This has led to the notion that the commission is a toothless structure.
Ahead of the swearing in ceremony of the current cabinet last year, the integrity commission released a report with a list of at least 23 names of nominated candidates to the national legislature recommending that they be removed from the list as they faced allegations of wrongdoing.
That list included Bathabile Dlamini, Malusi Gigaba, Bongani Bongo, Faith Muthambi, Gwede Mantashe, Mosebenzi Zwane, Nomvula Mokonyane, Kebby Maphatsoe, David Mahlobo, Zizi Kodwa and David Mabuza.
Despite its recommendation that these people should be removed from the list of deployees, the ANC has not acted on this and they ended up either as ministers, deputies, MPs and/or chairs of parliamentary committees.
The latest report will be the NEC’s biggest test of how committed is the organisation’s top brass to clean up the party’s image. Their decision will also tell us if the party has any regard for the group of elders who make up the integrity commission.
Whatever decision the NEC takes at its January meeting, the war will be won at the party’s national general council — scheduled for May next year — where debates about Magashule are expected to be a bone of contention.
