Plan mooted to rid ANC of vote-buying

DOGGED by corruption, factionalism and vote buying within its ranks, the ANC is considering forcing members to disclose their sources of wealth and those campaigning for positions to declare their funders.

These were some of the proposals tabled at the ANC national policy conference under way at Nasrec, Joburg.

The party admitted it faced a litany of problems, including the buying of membership.

ANC national executive committee member Fikile Mbalula presented a document outlining some of the radical changes the party plans as part of the renewal strategy resulting from growing concerns that the party is bleeding support.

Proposals include setting up a “Revolutionary Electoral Council” that will screen and interview members for eligibility before they can stand for positions, opening up the campaigning process and giving more powers to the party’s integrity commission.

The electoral council will be formed by party members not interested in any positions, but not necessarily its veterans.

Mbalula said this is meant to deal with factionalism in the ANC which in some cases had led to undeserving candidates making it to the party’s top leadership by virtue of them having support of the strongest faction at that point.

“The council will help us exorcise the tendency of factionalism… We don’t want candidates affirmed by factions,” Mbalula said on the sidelines of the six-day conference.

The council will evaluate members running for positions using the Eye of the Needle, the ANC’s guideline on choosing leaders, he said.

On members having to declare wealth, Mbalula said this was to deal with members having ill-gotten wealth but was not necessarily to bar members being engaged in business.

“We must be able to give an account of the personal wealth of individuals.” The party is also planning to give its integrity commission “more bite” to subpoena members implicated in wrongdoing.