The ANC has admitted that failure to implement the step-aside resolution will threaten its legitimacy as a leader of society, and further increase the trust deficit emerging in metropolitan areas especially.
THE ANC has admitted that failure to implement the step-aside resolution will threaten its legitimacy as a leader of society, and further increase the trust deficit emerging in metropolitan areas especially.
This was contained in the ruling party’s discussion documents released last week.
The ANC released the 187-page, 10-point documents as it prepares for its policy conference in July before the party holds its 55th national elective conference in December.
The discussion documents are divided into segments which include Changing Balance of Forces around the South African Transformation Agenda; ANC Organisational Renewal; Digital Communications and Battle of Ideas; Arts, Culture and Heritage in Pursuit of Progressive Internationalism in a Changing World; Social Transformation; Peace and Stability; Legislature and Governance; Strengthening Economic Recovery and Reconstruction to Build an Inclusive Economy; and Education, Health, Science and Technology.
On the step-aside resolution, the ANC said that it had strengthened the powers and functions of the integrity committee (IC).
“However, there have been challenges regarding the status of the decision of the IC. In many instances, the decisions of the IC have been ignored due to the fact that its decisions have to be ratified by a constitutional structure, with the ANC deployees defying the ANC decision by not stepping aside pending the finalisation of cases proffered against them,” the party said.
The ANC said that guidelines should also be developed to prevent opportunities for corruption.
The party said that was a critical issue and should include practical measures such as making the tender process more transparent.
“This could be done through initiatives such as publishing all winning bids and prices in full, setting up a national appeals process to vet any appeals from losing tenderers, increasing consequences against violators, and speeding up legal processes.
“There is an urgent need to develop a Code for Ethical Governance for municipalities which will have a similar standing as the King Code on Corporate Governance (King IV) has in the private sector.“
In the documents, the ruling party also claimed that the orchestrators of the July 2021 unrest, which the ANC described as acts of subversion, were unambiguous in their intention to remove a democratically established government by extra constitutional means.
“They agitated for the dissolution of Parliament. They also aimed at intimidating law enforcement services and to assault the judiciary in order to collapse the authority of the courts. They deliberately ignored the progressive role that the judiciary has played in advancing the various generations of human rights in the recent time.”
The document touched on organisational renewal, with the ruling party saying that the present-day ANC had all the hallmarks of a modern political party, not a liberation movement operating underground.
“It is necessary that members experience greater ownership of the renewed ANC and as we prepare for the next twenty-five years of democracy.
“We want to see the ANC celebrate 120 years in 2032 as a renewed movement and South Africa celebrating its Golden Jubilee by 2044 as an example of the African renaissance we so deeply desire.
“A country that is thriving and prosperous, where the land and other resources and assets are shared, which is free from hunger, poverty, racism and sexism and want, that is creative, innovative and entrepreneurial, has a capable, legitimate developmental state and that represents the best of human civilizations.”
