Zandile Gumede, Bongo, others get the chop

Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and former minister of state security Bongani Bongo are two of the prominent figures in the ANC who do not feature on any of the election candidate lists submitted by the party.

The ANC on Tuesday made public its province-to-province and province-to national lists after the national-to-national list had been leaked hours after the party’s submission on Friday.

Gumede, who has pleaded not guilty, is on trial along with 17 others on more than 2 000 charges, including conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act.

The matter relates to a R320 million Durban Solid Waste contract.

The ANC had asked Gumede to step aside in light of the charges but she has been seen actively campaigning, most recently with secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and national chairperson Gwede Mantashe at ANC events.

Bongo was charged in 2020 after he allegedly attempted to bribe a parliamentary legal adviser to collapse a 2017 committee inquiry into state capture at Eskom.

The case was dismissed in 2021 for lack of evidence and the State’s application for leave to appeal against the ruling was dismissed.

The ANC’s national list reveals that the party has stuck to its decision to include dozens of candidates implicated in the State Capture report, while it excludes prominent leaders who are facing criminal charges.

Those implicated at the Zondo state capture inquiry include Minerals and Energy Minister Mantashe; the ANC’s first deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane; Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa; Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo; former public enterprises and finance minister Malusi Gigaba and MP Cedric Frolick.

ANC eThekwini region spokesperson Mondli Mkhize said the region had been hoping that its chairperson, Gumede, would have been included on one of the lists.

“This is an unfortunate development; we were hoping for her inclusion.

She was asked by the ANC to campaign despite abiding by the step-aside process and it was hoped that she would have been considered and included in the party processes,” Mkhize said.

Gumede did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. An ally of Gumede’s said the decision to exclude her but include those who are implicated in the State Capture report “revealed the double standards in the ANC”.

“The party took a decision against the advice of the Integrity Commission and included people implicated at the Zondo commission. It is seen as doing this because that decision affected their own people like Gwede Mantashe and Zizi Kodwa.

“This is a travesty of justice because Gumede has not been found guilty ...they are excluding a seasoned cadre because of a prolonged court case that has not been concluded, in comparison to the Zondo commission findings that revealed that party members had been seriously compromised,” the source said.

The Mercury