ANC to cast net wider to find solution
ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize says the party will consult NGOS and civil society organisations to deal with the challenges plaguing the party.
In an interview with Independent Media, Mkhize said the problems were serious and needed immediate solutions.
“We have agreed that there is a need to consult stakeholders more widely, more than the ANC, like the NGOS and civil society.
“That is possible to do but we need to do that as a separate exercise outside of what is being done right now,” Mkhize said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the party’s policy conference in Nasrec, Soweto.
Mkhize’s comments came against the backdrop of reports compiled by some civil society organisations alleging corruption and state capture in President Jacob Zuma’s administration.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse became the third group to put together a report on state capture. It submitted it to Parliament last week.
The SA Council of Churches recently produced a damning report alleging that South Africa was heading for Mafia state status.
Mkhize’s views also come hot on the heels of a fallout out between the party and its stalwarts, who were severely attacked by the president in his opening address of the conference.
Mkhize also admitted that most of concerns raised by the veterans and stalwarts were valid.
The veterans raised corruption, infighting and state capture as some of the challenges threatening the life of the ANC, especially its stay in power beyond 2019.
They, together with the SACP and Cosatu, have called for Zuma to step down before the end of his term at the Union Buildings in 2019.
“The question is how do we make sure that we get the proper solution to those issues. That is what this conferences must be able to do,” he said.
“We think that this is the platform where these issues must be raised, particularly because all of the complaints that people are raising about the organisation don’t really come from outside,” he said.
Mkhize concurred with Zuma that the veterans and stalwarts had lost the best opportunity to use the national policy conference to raise their concerns about the party leadership.
The veterans requested two days of the policy conference be converted into a separate consultative conference to discuss the crisis facing the ANC.
After their request was turned down, the veterans decided to boycott the conference, and instead announced that they would hold their own consultative event in September.
Mkhize said the consultative forum would not be the right platform to discuss the ANC issues because veterans and stalwarts were not elected leaders.
“We are not very comfortable with a situation where there is a separate conference created outside the organisation because we don’t know how to call that,” he said.
Despite veterans such as Wally Serote boycotting the policy conference, ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini said she was happy that veterans such as Winnie Madikizela-mandela, Mendi Msimang, Sindiswa Mfenyana, Frene Ginwala and Andrew Mlangeni had attended. Mlangeni left soon after Zuma had attacked the “101” veterans during his opening address on Friday.
Dlamini said the veterans had disappointed the ANC leadership, which had tried several time to listen to their grievances. “We have met with them, officials have met them, the NWC (national working committee) has met them on a number of times because the kind of president we have is a very understanding president, he is very down to earth.
“He wants to ensure that everyone is taken on board on such issues,” said Dlamini.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said some of the NGOS and civil societies were present at the party’s national policy conference.
He said the party was looking at the SA Council of Churches’ report on state capture as part of finding internal solutions. In his diagnostic report, Mantashe said the party faced a challenge of finding a formula to reconnect with society.
“This will include engaging forces that seem to be hostile to the movement,” he said. James and the Giant Peach