Godongwana plans to stand for treasurer-general position

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana plans to raise his hand to stand for the position of ANC treasurer-general when the party holds its internal leadership contest in December, seeking to capitalise on proposed changes in the party’s constitution that will pave the way for him to hold the two positions at the same time.

“There is a proposal to amend the [ANC] constitution ... to allow that position to not be full-time and there is also a proposal to allow for more than one deputy secretary-general,” he said.

“If the [ANC] constitution is not amended [in December], I will not avail myself.”

His comments to Business Day came as the ANC considers reviving proposals that are more than a decade old to change the constitution of the party, which, if successful, would allow Godongwana be both head of SA’S finances and the governing party’s purse.

The proposal would require the approval of two-thirds of the 4,000 delegates at the national elective conference in December to pass.

If Godongwana is nominated and elected, he would inherit a role that has exposed the poor financial state of the ANC and threatens to undermine its efforts to recast itself as well-run steward of the country.

The position is currently occupied by Paul Mashatile.

Godongwana, a former chair of the ANC’S subcommittee on economic transformation, is the most senior cabinet member and is regarded as a key ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is seeking a second term as party president.

Godongwana tenure at the helm of the National Treasury could be threatened by the sexual harassment allegations against him. He has denied the allegations, saying the ANC’S internal processes and the country’s legal processes should be followed.

He is yet to be publicly endorsed by any of the ANC’S nine provincial executive committees or structures but says

he has been nominated to stand for the position by various branches in Limpopo, the Free State, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.