Strengthened: Members of the ANC integrity commission, including deputy chair Sophia Williams-de Bruyn (fourth from left) and chair Reverend Frank Chikane (fifth from left), will now have more clout. Photo: ANC/X
After years of talk about renewal, the ANC has put the wheels in motion for an era of accountability, but it’s one that may see the party suffer further membership losses as a result of tighter discipline and higher ethical standards.
The ANC held a three-day national executive committee (NEC) meeting last weekend to discuss how to rebuild and renew the party in the wake of its electoral losses on 29 May.
The NEC amended the terms of reference of the integrity commission, which is tasked with dealing with ethical and political complaints against members and serves as an advisory body to the executive committee on matters affecting the ANC’s public image and reputation.
The party also introduced a compulsory foundation course for all its members to improve the quality of its cadres through political education. Members of the NEC as well as provincial and regional leaders will be the first to undergo the five-module programme on the history, ethics and vision of the ANC.
The NEC also resolved that all MPs, MPLs and councillors must be involved in local issues through public meetings to try to regain ground lost mainly to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party.
Integrity commission
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula told journalists this week that the NEC approved the amendments to the terms of reference of the integrity commission, with the most significant of these relating to the establishment of a panel that will consider appeals by members and leaders aggrieved by the outcomes of the commission’s processes and decisions.
He said the NEC considered several reports from the integrity commission about some party leaders. Last year, only 34 of the 97 ANC leaders referred to appear before the commission over their role in state capture actually did so.
In his closing remarks, President Cyril Ramaphosa said members who have failed to appear before the integrity commission in matters that stem from the Zondo commission final report on state capture should be referred to the ANC’s national disciplinary committee.
An NEC source told the Mail & Guardian that the commission now has powers to recommend action against individuals found wanting.
“There are people like Cedric Frolick, which the integrity commission recommend that they should be taken to the disciplinary committee. Now you don’t have to hesitate on that. He must be taken to the disciplinary commission,” the source said.
Mbalula said: “The NEC accepted the recommendations of the integrity commission, while noting that recommendations in respect of certain cases had been overtaken by events, which included those who have either died or have since left or were expelled from the organisation.
“It was emphasised that the integrity commission and its work is not essentially about upholding the laws of the country but rather an appeal to a higher bar on leadership and membership obligations with regards ethical conduct.”
In some of the cases, the offending ANC member might not have broken the law, but their conduct “led to undermining the public perception of the ANC as a leader of society, thereby bringing the organisation into disrepute”.
Mbalula said the commission would not seek to be “legally punitive” but would rather be corrective “to ensure compliance with the ethical conduct as spelt out in the terms of reference”.
“Matters of ill-discipline to the extent that the constitution and other policies of the ANC have been violated will continue to belong to the realm of the disciplinary committee, whilst violating the laws of the country have the additional dimension of facing the courts of law,” he said.
The party would appoint among the “best of the ANC”, including its experienced and respected veterans, to serve on the appeal panel.
“It’s a decision of the national conference that we must appoint a panel,” Mbalula said.
“The same on matters of discipline. If the disciplinary committee has found you guilty, you can apply for an appeal in the NDCA [national disciplinary committee of appeals]. At the conference, the issue was that there was no recourse on how to engage on the issues of the integrity commission — long before they came to the NEC — because the NEC is the final arbiter where you can appeal and the national conference.”
Mbalula accepted that there were a number of areas of improvement because the integrity commission was in “uncharted waters.”
The integrity commission is one way of “persuading” party members who have brought the organisation into disrepute that they must step aside while the disciplinary processes are ongoing, the NEC source said.
“Immediately if you are found to have brought the organisation into disrepute, the integrity commission must sit down with you and request that you step aside because the ANC is afraid that legally, the law says this and we can’t go against the law.
“We are a political organisation and the society out there must view us differently, as we are principled, credible and people who abide by the rule of law. If you put the organisation into disrepute, the organisation must take steps against you. We cannot wait for the criminal justice to come over and decide on our behalf.”
The source said the appeal panel’s decision would be final.
“That’s the end of it. It’s either the integrity commission will tell you to step aside or go to the disciplinary committee. After that, that recommendation must be taken to the NEC and it is them that must endorse it. The integrity commission will either say, step aside or go to a disciplinary committee.”
Renewing membership
New ANC members will be required to write a letter of motivation and will be vetted before being allowed to join the party, while existing membership will no longer automatically be renewed. They too will have to provide a motivation and will be screened to rid the party of criminal elements in its ranks.
The new measures have brought concerns among some in the party that this would see the ANC decline even further. In 2017, the party had 989 000 members, which rose to 1.4 million in 2020. But this dropped to just 600 000 members in 2022.
Mbalula said the NEC noted that there has been a decline in the membership of the ANC because of “deserters and disruptors”.
“The revolution is swift once an impure load has been offloaded.”
The renewal programme aims to ensure that the ANC retains committed activists and cadres, he said.
“In pursuance of this resolution, all members will need to write a motivation letter and state why they should be reaccepted as returning members or accepted as new members into the ANC branches.
“The NEC welcomes the improvements to the membership management system, which will help mitigate practices that degrade our organisational integrity and accountability.”
Branch secretaries and executive committees will conduct interviews for recruitment.
“They know these members. They can talk to them and engage them on why they think it is in their interest to renew the membership of the organisation,” Mbalula said.