Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has taken issue with the ANC’s decision to deploy former minister Zizi Kodwa as an MP, saying it is a slap in the face of the party's renewal agenda.
The trade union federation has also challenged the ANC to re-evaluate its organisational structure, saying members of its national executive committee (NEC) must be kept out of government if it is committed to renewal and the step aside rule.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium this week, Losi, a former ANC NEC member, said these suggestions have been raised by Cosatu to its allies in the ANC during closed meetings.
Losi said the ANC could only show a genuine commitment to renewal if the NEC served as an oversight structure to those appointed in government, adding the ANC was still in conflict with itself on the step aside rule.
If you have such internal conflicts within the movement itself, how are we going to trust them with running a government where we need clean governance?
— Zingiswa Losi, Cosatu president
She said the rule has been seen by others as ammunition against their individual detractors within the party.
“If you have such internal conflicts within the movement itself, how are we going to trust them with running a government where we need clean governance? This is what you do differently in the next administration. For me it is an internal factor in the ANC,” she said.
To eliminate these threats which could see further declines in the next elections, including the local government polls in 2026, Losi said the ANC should discuss whether its NEC members should be in the cabinet, to avoid deployees exercising oversight over themselves.
“I think the renewal of the ANC and the confidence that people would have in the movement is when you have political oversight, which is the NEC separated from those that are deployees in cabinet, and they're able to come back to the ANC to account and be called by the NEC,” she said.
She argued that another area of concern was that the NEC deployees in cabinet were also heads of committees in the ANC, which resulted in a lack of oversight at the party’s headquarters.
“When they are here [Luthuli House], you must speak to them not as ministers but as comrades. So I think to get to the renewal of the movement, we must have political oversight which is not just reliant on the officials of the ANC alone, but the NEC as a superior body between congress must say, how has the ANC performed?”
She argued that while the ANC’s branches elect party leaders, the mandate of the electorate supersedes that of the branch.
This, she said, meant an appointment in government cannot be dictated by popularity within the branches, but rather what is in the best interest of the electorate.
She said the clearest example was the ANC’s decision to deploy Kodwa to parliament.
“Why has the ANC failed to set the step aside rule?”
Kodwa made his second appearance in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday after having been charged with corruption.
Shortly after he was charged, Kodwa resigned from his position in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet and stepped aside as an NEC member. However, many South Africans were shocked when he was sworn in as an MP in the 7th administration.
ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli had previously raised his own concern about Kodwa’s instalment as an MP. But secretary-general Fikile Mbalula defended this decision in a letter to party members, saying Kodwa would not participate in parliament.
Losi criticised this decision by the ANC, arguing Kodwa was deployed to parliament for him to “earn a salary”.
“Because you can't then participate. You can't speak on behalf of your party, you cannot do anything but you can earn a salary. We think it must be clear cut that you can't step aside but still be inside.”
Losi said the ANC could face erosion because of the conflict over those who are supposed to ensure renewal. While she was adamant the renewal programme was genuine, she said some claimed to be part of the renewal, but were not committed to it.
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