What is the point of an ANC top six leadership with integrity (also a long shot) if they are surrounded by wolves in the national executive committee (NEC)?
It was the NEC under former president Jacob Zuma that protected him during the Nkandla scandal, whitewashed allegations of state capture, and gave MPs the line of march during the two parliamentary motions of no confidence against the delinquent president at the height of revelations on the true extent of the Guptas’ influence over him. NEC positions are highly sought after, providing access to ministerial and government posts and influence in business and the private sector.
(Granted, it was also the NEC which eventually recalled Zuma, the unassailable.)
Still, it is the NEC whose present members include: Faith Muthambi, who unlawfully leaked confidential cabinet minutes to the Guptas and their henchmen; former mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane who, chief justice Raymond Zondo recommended, should be criminally prosecuted for his role in state capture at Eskom; KFC fanatic Sylvia Lucas; potentially criminal fashionista Malusi Gigaba; and convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni.
Not to mention Bathabile Dlamini, convicted of perjury for lying under oath in the social grant inquiry, and dodgy spy bosses Bongani Bongo and David Mahlobo.
Then there are deadweights including Mildred Oliphant, Dakota Legoete, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Collen Maine and Baleka Mbete.
With such “leaders”, the ANC has subjected SA to the worst it has to offer. It could not have produced a less electrifying bunch if it tried.
The NEC is the public face of the ANC and must be made up of leaders who reflect our values and represent the diversity of the SA people.
— Rules for Nomination and Election of NEC members 2022
While a huge focus ahead of every party election, at all levels, is on the top leaders, the true power lies in the NEC, where crucial decisions are discussed and made.
This is perhaps why, for the first time, the ANC has set out strict rules for nominating and electing leaders to its NEC. In an unprecedented move, the party has shifted away from simply using its seminal (and dated) leadership document, “Through the Eye of the Needle”, as its sole benchmark for electing leaders.
It has sent strict rules and criteria to its structures ahead of the nomination process, particularly on the type of NEC leaders to be considered for election in December. The rules have been drawn up by the party’s electoral commission, headed by ex-president Kgalema Motlanthe.
The document says the success of the ANC depends on the “quality, capacity and makeup of our NEC”.
It adds: “The NEC is the public face of the ANC and must be made up of leaders who reflect our values and represent the diversity of the SA people. We need cadres who have proven leadership and political capacity, a good track record, public standing and the moral integrity to provide leadership to the ANC.”
The cynic would wonder if there are even such people left in the ANC, given the calibre of leaders it has foisted on SA over the past decade.
The document also spells out who cannot contest for NEC positions.
This includes anyone who has been found guilty of, or charged with, unethical or immoral conduct or any serious crime or corruption. A serious crime is defined as one carrying a jail sentence of longer than six months.
The rule goes further, excluding anyone who has been charged with a crime and whose case is still being heard, and anyone appealing against a judgment. This immediately excludes Zuma and suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule.
Those who are temporarily suspended pending internal disciplinary processes and those whom the party’s integrity committee has recommended be suspended should also be excluded from nomination, the document says.
Should the ANC stick to its own rules for once, we may see a huge shift in the quality of leaders elected to its top leadership structure.
Except that it is not known for sticking to its rules.
Muthambi, Bongo and Mahlobo remain in parliament and in the executive, despite the serious allegations they face. Zandile Gumede was elected chair of the ANC’s largest region, eThekwini, despite facing corruption charges, and in Mpumalanga, double murder accused and former MEC Mandla Msibi was elected treasurer just four months ago — despite the ANC’s step aside rule.
All campaigning should focus on the capacity and track record of each of the candidates
— Rules for Nomination and Election of NEC members 2022
The other consideration is whether the ANC will be able to rid itself of slate politics and elect individual leaders on their own merit and not based on the faction they belong to, a deeply ingrained and well-established practice which the new rules attempt to unravel.
“No group of NEC candidates may campaign as an organised slate or list that tries to get votes for a predetermined group of NEC members or officials. All campaigning should focus on the capacity and track record of each of the candidates,” the document says.
The party also this week circulated far-reaching recommendations to change its own constitution to tighten the requirements for membership of the organisation. The amendments include the immediate expulsion of a member if that person is convicted of a serious crime in a court of law. These amendments would require the approval of two–thirds of the delegates at its December conference before being passed.
December, in many ways, won’t be “just” a leadership election. The proposing of these rules and amendments will provide a clear signal of the party’s appetite for genuine reform.
It will be closely watched and any vacillation will provide further impetus for a weary electorate to boot it down the road to political obscurity.
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