ANC Veterans League president Sandi Sejake has hit back at the ruling party after it met the league’s leadership to discuss his recent criticism of it and President Jacob Zuma, saying he will not live with the party’s image of corruption.
“I am not part of those who are corrupt. There should be a lifestyle audit to distinguish the corrupt members from those of us who are genuine members who love the ANC,” he said. “We will not live with this corrupt label because of some individuals who are perpetrating anti-ANC behaviour.”
Sejake was responding after ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe issued a statement late on Monday saying the veterans league’s leadership had met party representatives and expressed their disappointment in Sejake’s pronouncements.
“(They) collectively distanced themselves from the reckless and unwarranted comments,” he said.
In his opening address at the party’s policy conference last week, Zuma made a veiled attack on Sejake, who had criticised the party leadership and called for Zuma to be replaced at the ANC’s elective conference in Mangaung in December.
He has also slammed the party’s handling of the controversy over The Spear, a painting of Zuma, and the disciplinary steps taken against ANC Youth League members.
In January, Sejake said “syndicates” had taken over the election of the leadership in the ANC at all levels. He said Zuma must be replaced as party president in Mangaung because of his ties with the powerful Gupta family.
Zuma warned in his address last week against wanton ill discipline and suggested that those who defied the party leadership would face serious consequences and risk expulsion.
He cautioned elders in the party who defended the ill discipline of the youth league, saying their role was to help the organisation and not to deepen controversies.
A defiant Sejake said in response: “Discipline must have grounds. It would be interesting to be disciplined – and to see on what grounds this would be done.
“I am very clear about what is happening in the ANC. Many people in the ANC are bought. They are not volunteers like we were.
“Nobody came to me with money promising me tenders and government positions. For me it was about getting rid of apartheid and building a non-racial democracy.
“Discipline or no discipline, it will be interesting to hear the conditions under which disciplinary action is instituted.”
Asked to comment on Tuesday, Natso Khumalo, secretary-general of the veterans league, would say only: “Once the leadership has spoken, it means they have spoken. That’s it.”
Mantashe said in the statement that the meeting followed a number of negative comments made by Sejake about the ANC national executive committee and Zuma.
“He has made comments to the effect that the (veterans league) supports the view that the leadership of the ANC, including President Jacob Zuma, will be removed at the ANC national conference.”
Mantashe said Sejake had sought to undermine the ANC national executive committee, of which he was himself a member, and the president “outside of the established framework”.
The veterans league leadership had said it had not given Sejake a mandate to make the comments.
“The ANC views his conduct as being inconsistent with his responsibility as the president of the (veterans league),” Mantashe said.
He said the ANC valued the experience and commitment demonstrated by its veterans, saying they were regarded as the people “beyond reproach whose integrity is highly regarded”.
“The ANC calls on Comrade Sejake to desist from a conduct that will undermine the contribution he made to ensure the ANC became a vibrant and resilient organisation to a point of celebrating a centenary.”
Sejake said Monday’s meeting was “news to me”.
“I never knew (the veterans) were meeting, let alone with ANC leaders. Our last meeting of the veterans league was in March.”
Sejake said this was an attempt to divide the veterans league’s leadership before the ANC elections.
“One of the functions of the veterans league is that they are custodians of the ANC and our job is to speak out about what is wrong. If you can’t speak out on what’s wrong in the ANC, then you are not correcting anything.”
Pretoria News