32 top ANC members fail vetting
List process red-flags some implicated in state capture
● Thirty-two senior ANC members nominated for the party’s elections lists — some of them implicated in state capture — have failed a vetting process and will be hauled before the party’s integrity commission.
ANC sources close to the vetting process told Sunday Times the party’s top six have a list of names of the red-flagged nominees.
In a meeting with the integrity commission at Luthuli House this week, the top six, excluding President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy David Mabuza, told the integrity commission that the names would be forwarded to them for further scrutiny.
Most of the 32 were on the parliamentary list, but some were from lists for provincial legislatures.
Though the party has kept a tight lid on the identities of those who have been flagged, those familiar with the matter said they included “the usual offenders” and those who have been “seriously implicated in the state-capture probe”.
George Mashamba, the head of the integrity commission, said on Friday the commission had sought clarity on what powers it had in dealing with those under suspicion.
Mashamba said the commission was still waiting to see the list of rejected nominees. “They said they will give us a list of names but we are still waiting.”
Mashamba said the commission hoped to consider and finalise the 32 cases before the deadline for parties to submit lists of candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission before elections on May 8.
It is understood that people high up on the election list, whose likelihood of returning to parliament should be guaranteed, include controversial figures such as Bathabile Dlamini, minister in the presidency responsible for women; Nomvula Mokonyane, minister of environmental affairs; Vincent Smith, chair of several parliamentary portfolio committees; and Mduduzi Manana, a former deputy minister of higher education.
It’s not known if any of them are included on the list of the 32 red-flagged nominees.
Dlamini was last year found by the Constitutional Court to have lied under oath over the social grants debacle, and Manana was convicted of assault last year after an altercation with a woman at a Johannesburg nightclub.
Mokonyane and Smith have been implicated in allegations of fraud and corruption at the commission of inquiry into state capture. Both have been accused of having received bribes and other questionable payments from dodgy government service provider Bosasa.
In an effort to repair the party’s dented image after years of corruption allegations, the ANC has for the first time introduced a strict process to screen candidates nominated for parliament.
During the vetting process, nominees are asked, among other things, if they have criminal records, whether they are currently the subject of a criminal investigation and if they have ever received large amounts of cash. They are also required to provide a breakdown of their monthly expenses.
Special NEC meeting
The national executive committee, the ANC’s highest decision-making body between national conferences, will hold a special meeting today to discuss the 32 problematic nominees.
In an interview this week, the ANC’s head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, said those pushing their own self-interest or career advancement through the list process were in for a disappointment.
“Lists will never satisfy everyone in a party as big as ours.
“Just be happy that you were selected to represent the party,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula is also due to table the ANC’s election campaign strategy at the meeting today, which will include publicly owning up to the party’s mistakes over the past nine years.
“To say to the people of SA that there’s nothing that went down [in the past nine years] — that is wrong. It’s not only arrogance, but it’s also being disingenuous and dishonest,” he said.
Since December last year, Ramaphosa has sought to distance himself from the damaging nine-year rule of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.
But Zuma has taken affront at this, saying his administration achieved a great deal. He has also pointed out that he was not running a one-man show, and other ANC leaders were with him in the government.
Though party leaders sympathetic to Zuma have urged Ramaphosa to be cautious on this issue, Mbalula said the party would have to admit mistakes were made under Zuma.
“It’s not entirely correct that nine years were totally wasted, but it was predominantly characterised by negativity and affected us in terms of our forward momentum very badly,” he said. “In the nine years we could have advanced, but there are things that held us back.”
In the nine years we could have advanced but … things held us back Fikile Mbalula
ANC elections chief