African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema is off the hook for any wrongdoing at the national general council of the ANC, held in Durban in September.
ANC national general council — a special report
Together with various other youth league members and provincial leaders, Malema approached the stage at the Durban Exhibition Centre during the final plenary of the NGC.
At issue was the use of the word “nationalisation” in the final declaration that was being read out by ANC leader and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe.
Malema and his supporters wanted to ensure the word’s inclusion in the declaration, and not the phrase “state involvement in mining”, as some within the ANC would have preferred.
Difficult to pin the blame
At a briefing in Johannesburg on Monday following a meeting of the national executive committee (NEC) on the weekend, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said party leaders had studied a video made of the event, and analysed it carefully.
“We decided it must be looked at politically.”
The presence of some provincial chairpersons made it difficult to pin the blame on Malema and his supporters, Mantashe said, and therefore the party leadership decided that discussions with the youth league on how it relates to the mother body will be the ANC’s only reaction to the event.
Malema also scored another victory this weekend when the ANC decided to appoint two senior researchers and one project manager to investigate the feasibility of the nationalisation of the mines. This move illustrates that the party leadership is willing to spend money to show it takes the issue seriously.
The difficulty for Malema is that the team will report to the economic transformation committee of the ANC, headed by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Enoch Godongwana, who has made it clear he does not support nationalisation.
The report compiled by this team will be presented to the NEC in the last quarter of 2011, six months before the ANC’s policy conference.
‘Premature’
Meanwhile, referring to Northern Cape finance minister John Block, who was released on bail over allegations of corruption, Mantashe said it is “premature” to ask whether Block will remain in his government position.
“We shouldn’t sit here and make pronouncements on behalf of [Northern Cape] Premier Hazel Jenkins. We must allow Premier Jenkins to take her own decisions. It is incorrect for us [at Luthuli House] to say ‘Thou shalt step down’,” Mantashe said.
The NEC also agreed to establish an integrity committee, to which ANC leaders must declare their financial interests, a gender committee and an in-house monitoring system, with which Luthuli House will independently monitor the performance of its deployed cadres.