The ANC Veterans League wants action to be taken against the party’s leaders who appear on its candidates lists ahead of the May 29 national and provincial elections despite facing serious allegations of wrongdoing.
ANCVL president, Snuki Zikalala, said the league agreed that nobody who had brought the ANC into disrepute should be on the ANC’s lists to the national or provincial legislatures before they had embarked on relevant processes to clear their name. The league says the list should consist of credible leaders who will restore public confidence in the ANC.
According to Zikalala, the ANCVL played important roles in the list process, including nominating individuals, monitoring the integrity of the process, and calling for those who have been implicated in malfeasance.
These include the VBS scandal, which led to the collapse of the financial institution after it was looted; the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo-chaired commission of inquiry into state capture; findings of manipulation of lists by the party’s electoral committee headed by former president Kgalema Motlanthe and other similar commissions.
Zikalala said individuals implicated by commissions and investigations needed to clear their names before they were included in the ANC’s candidate lists.
Several current and former Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and ANC MPs have made it high up on the party’s lists. despite being implicated in serious wrongdoing in the final report of Chief Justice Zondo’s commission.
Without mentioning names, Zikalala said there remained some individuals, including some who high on the candidate lists, whose track records did not demonstrate a commitment to serve the people and had lost their trust through their previous actions by often looting taxpayers’ money.
The ANCVL’s understanding, according to Zikalala, is that some individuals have yet to be charged by the ANC’s national disciplinary arising out of the fact that they did not go to the governing party’s integrity commission to clear their names.
“We further understand that if they are charged, then in terms of the step-aside rule in the ANC, they will be required to step aside. We are respecting these processes,” he wrote in the party’s weekly newsletter, ANC Today.
Zikalala also called on ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s office to fast-track the process so that either the individuals concerned are cleared or removed from candidates lists.
“While their names appear on the IEC (Electoral Commission of SA) lists, the ANC can still decide whether they take up their seats in legislatures,” he further stated.
Zikalala believes that a large part of the unravelling of the ANC over the last decade has been related to the calibre of its leadership at all levels.
He said those calling for South Africans to no longer vote for the ANC because of the current internal challenges were being self-defeatist.
“The ANC’s internal challenges are best placed to be addressed within the ANC and at this point, no other political party can take over the mantle of the ANC with its legacy of progressive politics, track record and capacity to serve our people and deliver a better life for all,” Zikalala added.
Citing the love many South Africans had for late former president Nelson Mandela, he said credible leaders lived long in people’s hearts.
“I am also reminded of Pepe Mujica, the former Uruguayan President, who has been described as one of the world’s humblest heads of state due to his simple lifestyle, the donation of 90% of his salary to charity and that he either used a bicycle or VW Beetle to get around.
“The ANCVL is not (yet) asking our comrade ministers to cycle to work, but we are calling for honesty and humbleness as we seek to regain the trust of the people,” Zikalala noted.