Political commentators dissect step-aside rule
MBOMBELA - The national health minister, Zweli Mkhize, being placed on special leave has brought the integrity of the ANC’s groundbreaking step-aside rule into question.
“Of course, they built a case against Ace Magashule that he had failed to exercise oversight. Since he was charged by the prosecuting authority, it therefore meant he should step aside. Meanwhile, people who were identified for almost the same kind of issues, Bandile Masuku and Khusela Diko, get cleared by the Integrity Committee of the ANC. So you can see that the ANC is moving in the opposite direction,” said Siyabonga Hadebe, an independent commentator on socio-economic, politics and global matters. “So it is not about getting rid of corruption, it is about getting rid of opponents. They are using the legal and court system, which is supposed to deliver to the public, but is now embroiled in internal ANC politics.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered Minister Mkhize to take special leave following allegations of a R150-million tender in his department irregularly awarded to a company, Digital Vibes, to communicate government's response to Covid-19. This, however, has been met with public anger, especially those fighting corruption, as they expected Ramaphosa to give Mkhize his marching orders or to even ask him to step aside.
“Think of other high-profiled ANC members. All of them have received allegations and none of them have been asked to give space,” Hadebe said.
Goodenough Mashego, a political analyst and media practitioner, also weighed in, saying the rule is not pure in its intentions. “The step-aside resolution was pushed by the Ramaphosa faction in Nasrec to exclude the Zuma faction from power,” Mashego said. “But what is happening now is the same faction resisting its implementation when they are the implicated party. I think we might see the 2022 ANC Conference relooking the resolution to decide when exactly a step-aside should be effected. Is it when a person is implicated or charged with corruption?”
He said the special leave Mkhize is put under precedes a formal charge. “The difference here will be that with special leave, it means the minister is temporarily relieved of his ministerial duties to allow investigations to continue without him interfering with the process, whereas the step-aside means he is relieved of his political duties after being formally charged.”
‘I think we might see the 2022 ANC Conference relooking the resolution to decide when exactly a stepaside should be effected’