Johannesburg - ANC secretary general Ace Magashule appeared before the party’s Integrity Commission on Saturday but the party has remained mum on the outcomes of the meeting.
Magashule was ordered to appear before the commission to explain the 21 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering he faces at the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court.
“We are not going to be pre-emptive at this stage, we must allow the integrity commission, which is a structure set up by the National Executive Committee, to do its work. Once the NEC has received the report of the integrity commission we will then be able to interact,” ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said.
He could not be drawn into sharing the nature of the submissions made by Magashule to the commission.
“It is only when reports are finalised by the National Executive Committee that we are then able to deliberate further,” said Mabe.
On Friday, commission chairperson George Mashamba said that once the engagement (With Magashule) has been completed, they would issue a statement confirming that it has happened and outlining the process will be followed (in deciding the matter).
Mashamba said: “We understand the level of public interest, not just among the membership of the ANC but in society at large, but are duty-bound to respect protocol and process to ensure an outcome that is in line with our mandate.”
He stressed that the commission as a structure of the NEC is accountable to the body and respected its processes and procedures.
In his political overview at the party’s NEC meeting last weekend, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa said that they had a direct instruction to renew the organisation; complete with a clear resolution on rebuilding the integrity and credibility of the ANC.
“At the NEC meeting of 28-30 August, we took firm and unequivocal decisions on the fight against corruption within our structures and across society. These decisions were drawn directly from the decisions of the 54th National Conference.
“We described our stance as ‘a line in the sand’, representing our collective determination not to give any ground in fighting against corruption,” said Ramaphosa.
During that August NEC meeting, Ramaphosa asked leaders who had been charged with corruption to step aside in a move that he said was an indication of the ANC drawing a line between itself and those leaders who were corrupt.
“Cadres of the ANC who are formally charged for corruption or other serious crimes must immediately step aside from all leadership positions in the ANC, legislatures or other government structures pending the finalisation of their cases,” said Ramaphosa at the time.
During the ANC’s latest NEC meeting the party was presented with five legal opinions on whether party members charged with corruption could be forced to step aside and were presented to the NEC and deliberated by the governing party’s top decision-making structure.
Magashule had earlier said that only the branches of the ANC which had elected him would have the right to ask him to step aside.
Political Bureau