PHOSA CAUTIONS ANC ON POWER, MONEY ABUSE
THE ANC wants to get rid of individuals who use their positions of power and money to influence the direction of the organisation.
Its treasurer-general Mathews Phosa said on Friday that should it be factually proven that public representatives like ministers, premiers and MECs were using their departmental budgets to fight factional politics [in the ANC], they must be
“sanctioned ”.
We don t want the party to be “… ’ contaminated by taxpayers money
’ in any manner whatsoever. We discourage wrong behaviour by public representatives, irrespective of their status in government,” he said.
Phosa said donors can shape government policy and attempt to
corrupt and pervert its procure” ” ment decisions. He said while political parties could not survive without money, the party should never be sold to the highest bidder.
The danger was that money had the power to corrupt a political system and destroy its political parties.
He was speaking to media at St George s Hotel in Centurion, Pre
’ toria, on Friday, where provincial and regional treasurers held a two-day finance development workshop.
Discussions centered around the post-Polokwane resolutions on funding methods and the sourcing of party public funding.
Among those in attendance were ANC Women s League treasurer
’ Hlengiwe Mkhize, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale and Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor. The meeting agreed on the dan
“gerous territory the country was
” moving into and resolved that private funding of political parties should be regulated.
The intention was to move the ANC onto moral high ground, ensure that it does not benefit from the state, does not involve itself with companies where there are ill-deal
“ings and refuses tainted dona
” “” tions. Mkhize commended the honesty during deliberations, particularly because there had been deafening silence in the ANC about the dynamics of politics and money.