Pretoria - The Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal ANC have teamed up against President Cyril Ramaphosa and the governing party’s step-aside rule, saying the policy has been weaponised.
Insisting that law enforcement agencies were “open to abuse for factional purposes”, the two provinces have intensified their campaign for the scrapping of the step-aside rule at the upcoming 55th national conference.
Presenting a united front, Limpopo provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe and his KZN counterpart, Bheki Mtolo, addressed the media at Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme House, the headquarters of the KZN ANC, in Durban yesterday.
Without mentioning Ramaphosa by name, Mtolo and Madadzhe said some some leaders had been “selectively targeted for charges, with court cases getting prolonged under the pretext of investigations”.
This defiance against Ramaphosa comes after the two provinces lost their bid to have the rule scrapped at the party’s 6th policy conference held at Nasrec in July.
Ramaphosa had his way, with the conference deciding to keep the rule that was adopted at the same venue during the 2017 elective conference.
Speaking at the briefing, the duo said the step-aside rule did not solve the country’s socio-economic challenges.
“What is concerning is that state institutions such as the Special Investigating Unit and National Prosecuting Authority are open to abuse for factional purposes.
“We do not believe that the rule will ever be an instrument to solve socio-economic challenges we are facing as the country.
“The masses of our people are running out of patience as they live in abject poverty.
“The young and old, the urban and rural-based communities, are longing for improved quality of life.
“They cannot wait any longer. Therefore, as the ANC in KZN and Limpopo provinces, we have agreed that ANC leaders who are elected into positions of authority and deployed in all spheres of government must spend their time finding solutions that will help us usher in a new era of prosperity,” Madadzhe and Mtolo said in a joint statement.
“We have also agreed that the step-aside rule is weakening the ANC and defocusing all of us from ensuring that our organisation remains a vehicle for socio-economic transformation.
“We have resolved that ANC KZN and ANC Limpopo leaders will collectively engage delegates attending the national conference to push for the total scrapping of the step-aside rule.”
They reiterated their call for the rule to be strengthened and applied consistently.
“State institutions may even be manipulated by ANC members who are in control of state power for their own personal and narrow interests. Even those who are not in control of the state or within the ANC are likely to use the step-aside rule to advance their hidden agendas, which ultimately weakens the ANC, and leaders are pitted against society.
“We are worried that the skewed and inconsistent implementation of the step-aside resolution has divided the ANC and the alliance. There are leaders that are selectively targeted for charges, with court cases getting prolonged under the pretext of investigations.
“An example is Comrade Zandile Gumede, eThekwini regional chairperson and former mayor. Some comrades are charged ahead of conferences with an intention of barring them from contesting.
“On the other side, there are comrades who have been prejudiced and had to walk around with dark clouds hanging over their heads – only to be found not guilty by the court of law.
“We can cite ANC Mpumalanga treasurer Comrade Mandla Msibi after murder charges against him were provisionally withdrawn.
“Importantly, the implementation of the step-aside rule is in conflict with the ANC’s constitution and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
“We are systematically vandalising a well-established and fundamental principle of our law of the presumption of innocence,” said the duo.
It was not clear if the two provincial executive committees (PECs) shared the same views on who to endorse in the contested positions.
Earlier, Limpopo had vowed to go with Ramaphosa, while KZN gave the nod to former health minister Zweli Mkhize.
But that remains to be seen, especially after some members of the Limpopo ANC said they preferred Mkhize.
Last week Pretoria News reported that some Limpopo ANC leaders planned to dump Ramaphosa in favour of Mkhize on the eve of the national conference.
They accused the president of having failed to protect VBS-accused Danny Msiza, who is also the Limpopo ANC treasurer.
Should the Limpopo and KZN ANC’s unity of purpose succeed, it would pave the way for Msiza, suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule and Gumede, among others, to contest positions.
Msiza was charged by the National Prosecuting Authority for his role in the alleged looting of the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank in 2018.
Magashule was suspended after being charged with corruption.
Gumede was also forced to step aside after being charged with corruption.
Pretoria News