Johannesburg - The ANC elective conference has resolved that a commission of inquiry into state capture should be convened urgently.
This resolution confirms the decision taken by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), earlier this year, that an inquiry should be appointed to deal with issues dealt with in the Public Protector’s State of Capture Report, said Fikile Mbalula who was giving feedback on the commission dealing with organisational renewal.
The ANC elective conference is on its last day and commissions are giving feedback to delegates on resolutions taken.
Mbalula said delegates also agreed on the “management” of two centres of power by the NEC, the government and the party. This was important for policy implementation but also to ensure that decisions are enforced in line with the party mandate.
“It is the ANC that takes decision and the NEC processes the decisions in terms of implementation and it gives the mandate to its deployees in government,” said Mbalula.
The party is also looking at limiting the number of NEC members that are appointed to cabinet, although no percentage was stipulated on how many would be allowed to join government.
The age of some ANC Youth League members has also been highlighted as a problem by the commission. Mbalula said delegates agreed that the league should consider slashing its age limit to reflect the young people it represents.
Mbalula said this was a binding decision and that the league would have to discuss the age issue and it should be reflected in its constitution.
“35 years is way too old and is close to 40. They must consider slashing the number. This decision is binding and they have no option but they need to deal with it and it must reflected in their constitution,” said Mbalula.
The conference also agreed on increasing the reach of its branches and a possibility of most of the membership fees going to branches to help boost their capacity.