Cape Town - The ANC’s national executive on Sunday night backed Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas in his stand-off with the powerful Gupta family.
The ruling party’s highest structure has drawn a line in the sand for President Jacob Zuma’s wealthy backers.
“We reject the notion of any business or family group seeking (political) influence over the ANC with the contempt it deserves, while also recognising the need to act to protect the integrity of our government and our organisation,” ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told the media following a marathon meeting of the national executive committee.
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Last week Jonas lifted the lid on the Gupta family’s attempts to seize control of the country’s national treasury – and revealed the full extent of their virtual takeover of the Zuma government – when he confirmed reports the family had offered him the job of finance minister, weeks before Nhlanhla Nene was fired from the job.
The revelations have opened up a chasm in the ANC between those who want to end the Guptas’ mutually symbiotic relationship with Zuma and his family, and Zuma's backers who directed their ire at Jonas last week. The ANC Youth League wanted Jonas sacked and the Women’s League president, Bathabile Dlamini, said over the weekend all ANC members had skeletons in their cupboards, in an apparent warning to Jonas and other Gupta whistle-blowers.
On Sunday night Mantashe reined in both leagues and pointedly extended the party’s “political protection” to all ANC members who came forward with allegations of the Guptas’ influence-peddling.
“The pronouncements of both the presidents of the Women’s and Youth League fall under the category of ill discipline.”
He characterised Jonas’s actions as “the honourable thing”.
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The Gupta family’s propaganda machine also came in for strong condemnation by the NEC, after days of sustained attack against Zuma’s supposed enemies in the ANC.
“In addition, the NEC expressed its utmost disgust at the arrogance, disrespect and reckless journalism displayed by The New Age newspaper, ANN7News Channel and representatives of the Gupta-family. They have characterised the ANC as a group of factions for and against President Zuma.”
These unexpectedly strong condemnations hint at the anger with which senior figures in the party view last week’s Gupta revelations and could mark the beginning of the end for Zuma’s powerful friends. They also suggest the discussion of the Guptas was particularly heated and could explain the four-hour delay in starting Sunday’s press conference.
It appeared for much of the weekend that the Gupta controversy would not be a feature of the executive meeting, which was dominated by discussions of the economy, local government elections and the launch of the party’s manifesto for the first two days.
But pressure mounted on the party’s high-ups through the weekend, with representations received from veterans and the foundations of three ANC icons, urging the party to take steps to correct the course.
The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation said in a joint letter handed to Mantashe at the NEC meeting in Pretoria on Saturday: “We are deeply concerned about the current course on which our country is headed. We believe this course is contrary to the individual and collective legacy of our founders.
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“We believe we have reached a watershed moment. We appeal to the national executive committee of the ANC as they meet over the weekend to take note of the mood of the people across the country, to reflect deeply on their solemn responsibilities, to make urgent choices and to take urgent corrective actions in the best interest of South Africa and its peoples.
“We make this call to remain true to our founders and to continue their life’s work to champion the cause of freedom and democracy for our people. It is for these they were ‘prepared to die’.
“History will judge the ANC leadership harshly if it fails to take decisions that will restore the trust and confidence of the people of South Africa,” the letter stated, signed by acting chairwoman of the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation Dr Frene Ginwala, chairman of the board of trustees of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, and Derek Hanekom on behalf of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.
“We read disturbing stories in newspapers and other media about ‘state capture’; we see important institutions of democracy such as Parliament under great strain; we hear what ordinary South Africans tell us through our work and are challenged by friends and comrades who witness cumulative fragmentation of the ANC, a great organisation our founders helped build and sustain over generations.
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“In the spirit of our founders we cannot passively watch these deeply concerning developments unfold and get worse by the day.
“Leaders such as Tambo, Mandela, and Kathrada helped shape the ANC by providing a vision of a better future for all our people.”
Cape Argus