Pretoria - The July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng was an orchestrated and well-planned action to shield those who were responsible for state capture.
This view is expressed in the ANC national executive committee (NEC) document on corruption and state capture to be presented to the party’s national policy conference this weekend.
The ANC wants its branches to discuss the document and find measures to fight against any state capture in the future.
Yesterday ANC task team head on state capture Jeff Radebe agreed with the Zondo Commission’s findings that some of the senior party leaders had colluded with the Guptas to weaken the state and their organisation.
The report states that: “The orchestrated acts of public violence and destruction in July 2021 need to be viewed in this context. It was a deliberate, but unsuccessful, effort to foment a popular insurrection against the democratic state and our constitutional order with the intention of shielding those responsible for wrongdoing from accountability.”
The report also said that the Zondo Commission made critical findings about the democratic government, Parliament, public entities and indeed about the ANC.
“We may find some of the observations and findings unsettling and there may be some assessments that we disagree with, but we must engage honestly and openly with all aspects of the commission’s report. As the ANC, we must see it as another opportunity to identify our weaknesses and shortcomings and take the necessary steps to address them.”
Branches and members are also urged to read the entire Zondo Commission report.
Now, the ANC wants its internal Integrity Commission to act against all those implicated.
The position of the ANC on leaders and members who have committed acts of corruption or other crimes are clear. Their actions are a direct violation, not only of the laws of the land, but also of the ANC constitution, its values and principles, and the resolutions and decisions of the ANC’s constitutional structures.
Such members must face the full legal consequences of their actions. They cannot rely on the ANC for support or protection, nor may they appeal to the principle of collective responsibility. In accounting for their actions, they stand alone.
Where adverse findings are made against ANC members, the relevant resolution of the 54th national conference should be invoked – that every ANC member accused of, or reported to be involved in corrupt practices, is to appear before the Integrity Commission immediately or face disciplinary processes.
The party also wants to ask ANC leaders to make regular declarations of financial interests as has been initiated at national level, conduct lifestyle audits of all leaders and public representatives, and develop a clear policy on leaders and their family members doing business with the state.
The leaders are also urged to strengthen the Integrity Commission and provide it with clear administrative and legal support and consistently ensure accountability in relevant government structures on dealing with corruption, as well as efficient utilisation of state resources to better the lives of South Africans, especially the poor.
Radebe also confirmed that the ANC had singled out at least 200 of its own members for now who were implicated in State Capture’s Commission Report.
He said his task team was still reading the State Capture Report, saying after completion, they would identify others with the view to ask them to appear before the party’s Integrity Commission for disciplinary action.
The ANC documents on corruption and state capture want all those implicated to appear before its Integrity Commission but is mum on whether they should face criminal prosecution.
Asked about the glaring omission, Radebe told the media any decision on criminal prosecution was the duty of the law enforcement agencies.
“We are not law enforcement agencies,” he said.
The party, however, admitted that some of its senior leaders implicated in the state capture project operated clandestinely with the Guptas to weaken the state.
“Some actions that may today be considered as instances of state capture, were not necessarily recognised or described as such at the time. And even as the term gained currency, there were individuals in the ANC and in society more broadly who contested both the existence of the phenomenon and the use of the term,” he said.
Radebe, however, said his party members were made aware of state capture through two instances – the Waterkloof landing and the removal of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister in 2015.
Pretoria News