Cape Town - All members of the ANC facing charges of graft will immediately step aside from the posts they hold in the state, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, as he vowed a concerted campaign against him would not derail his stated anti-corruption drive.
"Cadres of the movement who are formally charged with corruption or other serious crimes must immediately step aside from all leadership positions in the ANC, legislatures and other government structures pending the finalisation of their cases," he said.
Ramaphosa took the unusual step of personally addressing a media briefing on the outcome of a special meeting of the ruling party's national executive committee (NEC) at the weekend, rather than leaving the task for secretary-general Ace Magashule.
He said the three-day meeting saw the ANC's top structures give its full support to a letter he penned lamenting that the ruling party had become accused number one in the eyes of the public in terms of corruption.
The party had agreed to all steps he proposed to arrest the phenomenon, he said, and that attacks on him would not stop the fight against corruption within its ranks and society as a whole.
"The NEC agreed that this will be a turning point in the fight against corruption," he read from a prepared statement.
"The NEC endorsed the contents of President Ramaphosa's letter to ANC members of August 23 as a clear articulation of the policies and position of the organisation and agreed to the implementation of the points of action contained therein.
"The NEC emphasised that what seems to be a choreographed campaign against the president will not distract the movement from undertaking an intensified programme against corruption and state capture as mandated by the 54th national conference."
Ramaphosa described the meeting, where he is understood to have stared down a coalition of political foes, as one of the best the NEC had held.
African News Agency (ANA)