ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party will decide on what will happen on the Phala Phala matter once all processes have been finalised.
ANC SECRETARY-general Fikile Mbalula says the party will decide on what will happen on the Phala Phala matter once all processes have been finalised.
He said for now they must allow all processes involved in the investigations into Phala Phala to unfold and a decision will be taken after that.
Mbalula also said the ANC-led government remained non-aligned in the Ukraine crisis.
He said the lawmakers will be working on domesticating the Rome Statute in line with what is allowed in law. This is to handle the issue of Russian president Vladimir Putin if he attends the BRICS summit in August.
This has been done in other countries including the UK, which has domesticated the Rome Statute.
Mbalula, who was addressing the ANC Western Cape conference on Saturday, said the party would not allow opposition parties to decide on Phala Phala.
The public protector has not yet tabled her final report into Phala Phala. A preliminary report was sent to affected parties last year. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been called to account by opposition parties over $582,000 stolen at his Phala Phala farm.
Mbalula said there was no crisis in the ANC.
“We decided on Phala Phala because we said can you allow everything else to be done and after that we will then talk about what needs to happen. The ANC will make its own determination about what must happen. We will not just sacrifice our president at the altar, neither are we sycophants of Ramaphosa. We are not.
“If anything were to arise and it requires us to take a decision about the president we have got rules in the ANC and checks and balances. We will decide. If the president has to step aside at some point because he has got things to answer from a point of accountability he will step aside. There is no problem about that. The president will step aside. There is no crisis,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula also called for an end to putting pressure on law enforcement agencies to act on certain cases.
He said after Chief Justice Raymond Zondo had submitted his State Capture report to Parliament and other organs of state he must allow them to do their work.
Zondo said this week that Parliament has not been able to act on his recommendations.
Parliament has called for an urgent meeting with Zondo to clarify issues.
The report was handed over to Parliament after a few years of investigations by the Zondo Commission.
Mbalula said what was needed was the strengthening of law enforcement agencies because some of the people the state was chasing had deep pockets.
It would be ideal if the country were to go back to the model of the crime-busting unit Scorpions, he said.
“What the ANC must advocate for is the strengthening of law enforcement in the country. Comrades, we are not wrong when we say let us go back to the model of the Scorpions. We are not wrong,” said Mbalula.
