As the ANC prepares for its 55th elective conference in December, Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu has called for the resolutions of the ANC to be implemented consistently and for the party to change how it does things.
AS THE ANC prepares for its 55th elective conference in December, Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu has called for the resolutions of the ANC to be implemented consistently and for the party to change how it does things.
Sisulu was speaking to SABC’s Mzwandile Mbeje during an interview on Sunday following the coronation of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini on the weekend.
Sisulu said the resolutions of the ANC need to be adopted and implemented consistently as these have a bearing on how society sees the ANC. She said she was left to fend for herself when she tried to implement the ANC 2017 resolution on Israel.
She claims this is the reason President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to remove her from her portfolio as minister of international relations and co-operation in 2019. The move saw her returning to human settlements before she was appointed minister of tourism in 2021.
“Things will change. In some cases we take resolutions as a government and those resolutions have repercussions for the top layer of our organisation. We took a resolution in 2017 that we would downgrade the Israeli embassy into an ordinary office.
“In line with all the responsibilities I had, I executed them almost immediately. I felt very punished by the government standing back when the Jewish community was complaining because I indeed did downgrade the Israeli embassy into a liaison office in line with the resolutions.
“My own government did not come out to support me. The Jewish community was livid and made their views known, knowing very well too that it was a resolution of the conference. So I do have the scars of what you are talking about, where a resolution is made and is not carried through.”
Sisulu said no one in the ANC came to defend her when the Jewish community came for her following this decision. She said she felt punished by her own party. She also accused the Jewish community of not taking the ANC government seriously, saying after a meeting, some of the members began inserting horns in her pictures. “I expected him (Cyril Ramaphosa) to come to my rescue. It was a public matter and everybody could see.
“I would have expected him to say this is my minister and I am going to protect the resolutions of the NEC conference and I was left dangling alone. It was not only the president but it was the ANC. I do not remember someone saying this was our resolution that the minister is carrying through.”
Sisulu said she was subsequently moved from her portfolio following this fallout and suspects that the president moved her as a result of her attempt to carry out this resolution. “I do not know any other reason why it happened that way. ”
She said the governing party was not consistent in implementing its resolutions and cited the implementation of the step-aside resolution that was implemented without wasting time.
“There was no time wasted in implementing the step-aside resolution. But most of the other resolutions have not been quite as hastily. We need to understand that government is a political space and a political playing field.”
She said the step-aside resolution should stand as it has good intentions but should not be applied selectively. “I am uncomfortable with the way it has been applied. I would propose as we go into the next conference and anybody that we believe has serious accusations to answer for, would be required to step aside.
“The Phala Phala issue for me would call for that. I think all of us are quite certain that there is nothing wrong or illegal about that, but for as long as it keeps hanging on the president it keeps hanging on everybody else. It is not fair to us. I don’t think it is fair on him either,” she said. Sisulu said the NEC has not met to discuss the matter regarding the Phala Phala farm scandal.
“The reason we have to be consistent is that society needs to see us as consistent and being serious about things that are not going right so that when we go to them in the next election, they trust us. We need to have the trust of the people,” she said.
