Johannesburg - The ANC’s national executive committee has kicked off its lekgotla amid a plethora of crises, chief among them being how the governing party’s leadership handled Eskom’s debilitating power woes.
Following bombshells of how Eskom’s management and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan allegedly misled President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding challenges at the power utility, gloves are expected to come off as the 108-year-old party attempts to come up with solutions.
But secretary-general Ace Magashule on Sunday insisted that despite disputes among the party leaders on resolutions adopted at the ANC’s 54th national conference in 2017, including the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank, the government had the duty to implement them (resolutions).
“Even in terms of state-owned enterprises and the economy.
“We checked and looked at the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th conference resolutions and we said this is the year of implementation of our policies,” he said on the sidelines of the meeting held in Centurion near Pretoria.
Magashule also denied that the party’s top leadership was plagued by growing disunity, which some claimed is part of a plot to unseat Ramaphosa at the ANC’s national general council scheduled for June.
“We always see the media reports and highlights. There weren’t any turf battles.
“This was the best national executive committee we had starting and beginning the year 2020.
“I think the president, and all of us, have once more emphasised the issue of building a capable state and the issue of unity.”
Insiders are tight-lipped on whether the lekgotla will entertain calls for Gordhan to step down as some NEC members gun for him while others have shown him support.
Also expected to form part of discussions is the progress on the implementation of the expropriation of land without compensation policy. Magashule said the party’s top brass aimed to look at ways of giving practical expression to the January 8 statement delivered by Ramaphosa in the Northern Cape earlier this month.
The governing party has also set its sights on local government and weakened service delivery by the municipalities in the country’s provinces. “We have seen as we walked in the streets of Northern Cape the sewage all over and we have seen rubbish and refuse all over and we are saying we are not going to allow these things.
“There are going to be consequences,” Magashule said. Delivering the January 8 statement, Ramaphosa warned ANC’s public representatives, who he said continue to spoil the party’s standing among its supporters through bad performance and wrongdoing.
He maintained that these members, especially in the municipalities, would be monitored and punished if found to be in the wrong. The party is expected to announce the outcome of its meeting on Wednesday.