STEEPED IN A HISTORY OF CRIME
Party manifesto of 1999 vowed to root out corruption, nepotism and bribery, but was promptly ignored
Actions don’t just have consequences. They also define character. These are truths the governing party, the ANC, knows — and has refused to heed for decades.
In the run-up to the 1999 elections Tony Leon, leader of what was then the Democratic Party, called on the ANC to remove from its candidates’ list 17 leaders who were implicated in corruption, maladministration or criminal activities. Leon was not imposing his own standards on the ANC, he was asking it to follow its own publicly stated standards. He quoted the ANC’s election manifesto promise that it would “rigorously root out corruption, nepotism and bribery in all state institutions”. The manifesto continued: “We will remove those who seek to enrich themselves by corrupt means, at the expense of the people.”
Leon said the ANC’s failure to remove the candidates he had identified would mean that “crime and corruption are permitted, as long as the perpetrators are important ANC members”.
Among those ANC leaders identified by Leon were Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (convicted of kidnapping and assault in 1991), Baleka Mbete (alleged to have been less than honest about how she obtained a driver’s licence in corruption-ridden Mpumalanga), Free State leader Pat Matosa (at the time convicted of attempting to murder a traffic officer — the charge later changed to pointing a firearm) and others.
These leaders went on to greater things in the ANC. Perhaps the most illuminating of them all was when Mbete accompanied Tony Yengeni, who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years in jail, to the gates of Pollsmoor prison in 2006. Housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Ebrahim Rasool, then premier of the Western Cape, also pitched up.
It is 23 years since Leon entreated the ANC to follow its own rules. It ignored him then and ignores similar calls today. Lately the ANC’s branch members have been electing people facing corruption charges to high office. We should not be surprised. As illustrated by the story from 1999, this is par for the course.
Last week former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede was elected eThekwini chair of the ANC in a tense, highly contested, drawn-out conference that discussed no policy or any other matter. It convened, elected leaders and that was it. State of the economy? The fact that eThekwini was the heart and centre of the July riots last year? The comrades didn’t care about such pressing issues. They just wanted to get their corruption-accused leaders into the top spots.
Gumede’s election follows that of Mandla Msibi as treasurer of the ANC in
Mpumalanga. Msibi is facing murder and attempted murder charges after a shooting incident in Mbombela last August. In a widely circulated video, he celebrated his victory by dancing alongside fancy sports cars in a crass display of wealth in a province where the economy has collapsed and faeces runs in the streets of some municipalities.
There will be more. In Limpopo, ANC regional leaders who face trial for their involvement in the looting of VBS Mutual Bank, which led to its collapse, have regrouped and are now standing for office in key provincial positions. Their ascension is also important for the ANC’s December conference — they will influence and direct their provincial delegations about whom to vote for and what positions to take on policy. If, for example, you have stolen from VBS you would certainly be calling for the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank and for its policies and procedures to be set by politicians instead of ethical, qualified, and experienced technocrats.
The ANC rank and file are unmoved by the implications of what their votes for these corruption-accused leaders may mean. After Msibi’s victory in Mpumalanga two weeks ago, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa warned his comrades: “During the course of your election, you took the step of endorsing and electing a comrade facing charges ... This matter needs your attention; your reflection ... I call on you to reflect on this matter. You are not the only province facing this issue.”
ANC members in eThekwini did not listen to Ramaphosa’s warning about electing such corruption-accused leaders. They voted for Gumede, just as they had voted for corruption-accused Jacob Zuma in 2007.
By doing so, they voted for the ANC that rejected Tony Leon’s call in 1999. They have shown their character. Consequences must follow. Surely.