ANC wants to hire and fire top officials

Move to clip future president’s powers to prevent ‘Gupta-style’ appointments

All senior appointments in the government, parliament and state-owned enterprises would have to be first approved by the ANC’s national executive committee if a new and controversial deployment policy is adopted by the party at its national conference in December.

In what the drafters are claiming to be an attempt to minimise the influence of the Guptas and other outsiders in the appointment of cabinet ministers and CEOs of parastatals, the party has proposed amendments to its constitution that would see certain powers removed from its president and given to the 88-member NEC.

Among the powers the NEC has now is the right to sign contracts with the party’s public representatives and to recall those of its deployees it is not satisfied with.

But according to a proposed constitutional amendment contained in a document circulated by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s office to party structures this week, the NEC could soon have the power to “appoint and disappoint [sic] all public representatives at national, provincial and local levels in government and manage the performance of such public representatives”.

Mantashe would not comment on the motivation behind this possible change, saying only that issues of constitutional amendments would be dealt with at the conference.

This is not the first time the ANC has wanted to have a say in who is appointed in the cabinet.

A party policy conference held before the 1994 elections decided that cabinet ministers should be appointed by the national conference. However, then-president Nelson Mandela defied this decision.

Subsequently the country’s constitution was drafted to state that it is the sole prerogative of the president to appoint ministers.

Although the president has the power to appoint his ministers, he has to do so after consulting his colleagues in the party’s top six.

Those motivating for this change to the ANC’s constitution argue that it will avoid appointments being made “in dark corners outside of the ANC”.

They cite the allegation that the Gupta family gave instructions to President Jacob Zuma and some provincial premiers to hire and fire certain officials.

The change, they argue, would allow for transparency in the appointment process and would force the best candidates in the party to be elected to the top jobs in government.

However, in the past the NEC has been unable to discuss government appointments because many of its members served in top positions in government. It has also in the past failed to reach consensus on a variety of issues due to divided opinions.

As part of the constitutional amendments, ANC leaders would probably have to pass an eligibility test conducted by an electoral commission to stand for positions in the party.

This newly constituted electoral commission would have the power to manage all political contestation in the ANC.

“Giving additional powers to the commission to screen candidates in accordance with the criteria set out in the Eye of the Needle document would serve as a confidencebuilding mechanism and would enhance the credibility of the electoral process, lessen tension among the supporters of the different contenders, reduce [the] prospect of challenges, [and] build trust and unity among members,” the motivation reads.

Constitutional amendments are normally decided on before delegates to the ANC conference nominate candidates for leadership positions.