Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki. Photo: Nicolene Olckers/Gallo Images
Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki, who has been vocal about the party’s failure to root out corruption, was allegedly part of the majority of national executive committee (NEC) members who endorsed the candidates list sent to the Electoral Committee of South Africa (IEC) — which included those implicated in graft.
According to NEC members who spoke on condition of anonymity, Mbeki was of the view that the ANC’s integrity commission report must be processed internally, but that the elections list should not be altered while the process was underway.
Another insider quoted Mbeki as saying that the ANC had no choice but to submit the list due to the IEC’s deadline, adding that the NEC must continue to discuss the matter of party leaders implicated in corruption.
The insider added that Mbeki said that this would need to be communicated to voters. The former president further emphasised that the ANC must consider the list provisional one, which would be finalised at a later stage, after discussions were completed.
They said Mbeki had pointed to the ANC’s electoral decline, saying there was no indication that the drop in voters would change.
“He said that there are two objective realities that must be taken seriously on board that internal research of the party has shown us and what historically has practically happened with the masses of the people moving away from us,” the NEC member said.
“Comrade Mbeki was clear that the question the ANC is faced with is how it responds to all of that. He said that we are faced with the challenge that we must present our list to the IEC and we have no choice but to do that.”
Mbeki has previously said publicly that the party has failed in its ambition to renew itself.
On Thursday, the NEC met again to finalise the candidates list, which was presented to it on Monday during an extended meeting with its alliance partners, labour federation Cosatu, the South African Communist Party and the South African National Civic Organisation.
The list had been taken to the party’s top brass on Wednesday to remove the names of people who were on both the national and provincial lists and those who did not pass the vetting process.
Thursday’s special NEC meeting to finalise the list lasted until the early hours of Friday morning.
According to insiders, the party’s top seven officials called for the adoption of a report by the ANC’s integrity commission that Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa, Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo and former finance minister Malusi Gigaba be booted off the elections list.
Party insiders said the top seven also placed Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza on the chopping block.
The insiders said the party’s president and chairperson, Cyril Ramapohosa and Gwede Mantashe, were told to leave the meeting because it would also discuss the integrity commission’s reports on the two leaders, including the Phala Phala scandal.
Only five NEC members agreed that those implicated in corruption should be removed from the list, said three NEC members who spoke to the Mail & Guardian.
They said ministers Mondli Gungubele, Barbara Creecy and Kgosientso Ramokgopa as well as ANC Veterans’ League president Snuki Zikalala and head of elections Mdumiseni Ntuli called for those identified by the committee of elders to be removed.
“I would say 90% of the NEC agreed that the list should stay as is. Comrade Ntuli even went as far as saying that comrade Zandile Gumede should be removed. There was a time when the integrity committee report recommended that [finance minister ] Enoch Godongwana and Zweli Mkhize be suspended but it was Zizi whom the officials targeted,” one NEC member said.
They said that the strongest view, which ultimately won during the robust debate, was that the integrity commission’s report must be properly processed before any decisions were made.
This means Mkhize, Bathabile Dlamini and eThekwini regional chairperson Zandile Gumede have made it to the list of party leaders destined for parliament. Other compromised individuals on the list include Andile Lungisa.
The ANC stands to lose the 2024 elections, with many pollings predicting that it will dip below 50% of the vote share. The governing party instituted the stet-aside rule as part of its project to renew itself after years of state capture under its rule.
The integrity commission picked apart Kodwa’s attempt to defend himself over his involvement with a former executive of tech company EOH, and called him a liar. The report said Kodwa, who was deputy intelligence minister at the time, had appeared three times before the commission and each time he had tried to justify unjustifiable conduct.
“His relationship with [EOH executive Jehan] Mackay and [businessman Edwin] Sodi has brought the ANC into disrepute. Zizi was found to be dishonest and lied to the IC [integrity commission]. He has denied the existence of the ethical framework, which was distributed to all NEC members. He has accepted a huge loan/gift, which does not seem to have any repayment arrangements,” the report stated.
During his tenure as state security agency minister, David Mahlobo was accused of participating in the looting of millions of rand from the intelligence department, which was whisked off in bags and suitcases. Mahlobo has maintained his innocence.
Gigaba failed to appear before the integrity commission after he was implicated in corruption in the state capture report by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
*This story has been updated with comments from an additional source.