WATCH: Protest over step aside rule at ANC headquarters

Published Apr 15, 2021

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JOHANNESBURG: ANC members picketing outside the Chief Albert Luthuli House say the “step aside rule” must apply to all members facing corruption cases.

The ANC members who gathered outside the building in Johannesburg’s CBD held placards bearing the names of prominent leaders and allegations levelled against them.

Some of the leaders included Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, former Gauteng premier and minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane, former KZN premier and current minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, SACP general secretary and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and President Cyril Ramaphosa, to name but a few.

Thabo Baleni, an ANC member from Free State, said the picket was held to show their dissatisfaction with some of the recent decisions taken by the ruling party’s national executive committee (NEC).

“We are saying that as and when the NEC apply some of the rules such as ‘step aside’, it shouldn't be conditional; all other members who are charged - this should also apply to them,” said Baleni

He added: “It cannot be that the NEC gets to come and make a person step aside in a critical position such as that of ANC secretary-general (Ace Magashule) ... Therefore, if there is any matter that the ANC deems fit, they (NEC) should consult with us through the National General Council ...”

Baleni added that targeting particular individuals within the ANC was a “political trick”, and that the party was not discussing issues that were affecting ordinary citizens as the country faced economic challenges.

He further said for those who had been charged, one rule that “applies on the left must apply on the right”.

Pixley ka Isaka Seme Street in the CBD was cordoned off police, allowing the ANC members to picket without interrupting the public.

The picketing ANC members arrived in three buses, one of them with a Free State registration.

No one from the ANC headquarters addressed them.

POLITICAL BUREAU

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