In a bid to regain the international respect it had once enjoyed, the African National Congress would act decisively against members who deviated from its practices, spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said on Saturday.
“We need to act with speed and decisiveness on any deviation from ANC values and practices,” Mthembu said after a national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Midrand.
“The ANC must return to its glory days where it was respected all over the world and all over the country,” he said.
He said President Jacob Zuma had given NEC members a clear mandate that the leadership of the party must act against wayward members.
Mthembu said Zuma had also emphasised the destructiveness of public spats.
“You’ll see more action from the ANC on its leaders where we find acts of ill-discipline.”
Mthembu condemned utterances made by the party’s youth league in the Northern Cape, where it called national director of public prosecutions, Menzi Simelani a “rented dog of a political conspiracy”, following the arrest of provincial ANC leader John Block on fraud charges.
He said the party would not comment on the case as it was still in court.
“We have got every confidence in our courts and we believe they will be able to deal with this matter
‘More action’
“We believe that you’ll see more action from the ANC on its members of its leaders and cadres,” he said.
Mthembu told the media that Zuma had said the party had done well in addressing education, health and planning for rural development.
“Now what needs to be done is visible action around that area of development,” Mthembu said.
Zuma however told the delegates that the party had not fared well in job creation.
“This is an area that ANC and its government will be dealing with come next year. One of the major areas of focus that all of us will be looking at in 2011 is how best do we ensure that our people have got decent work.”
The party would consult with its partners, including trade unions, to ensure that graduates were given the job experience they needed to find decent work.
The ruling party, Mthembu said, was looking at ways to ensure that South Africa’s economy created jobs. – Sapa