Thursday webinar with Tim Modise: Corruption and the state of the nation

The Thursday webinar will provide a perspective on efforts by the government to crack down on corruption. Over the weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa survived an attempt to oust him from members within the ANC. It is understood that his letter to the ANC last week, in which he admonished the party for rampant looting, corruption, tender fraud and blatant stealing of resources meant for the public, prompted the move to remove him. It appears the discovery that Covid-19 PPE (personal protection) tenders which were given to some members of the ANC, including Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko’s husband, was the final straw for the president. – Bernice Maune

By Bernice Maune

With corruption being the bone of contention within the ANC, broadcaster Tim Modise will talk to governance specialist and lawyer Judith February, political analyst Daniel Silke and Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, who sits on the board of the National Research Foundation and is a senior researcher of politics and theology at the University of Pretoria.

February is the author of Turning and Turning: Exploring the Complexities of South Africa’s Democracy and is based at the Institute for Security Studies. She is also a columnist, offering expert opinions on politics and the state of governance in the country.

This is not a power contest. What we are seeking to do is reposition the African National Congress and we will reposition it through policies taken at our 54th conference.

Maluleke was previously at the University of South Africa as Executive Director: Research, Deputy Executive Dean and Dean of Faculty, University of Kwazulu Natal in the capacity of Associate Professor and the University of Johannesburg where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation, Advancement and Student Affairs.

Silke is the director of the Political Futures Consultancy based in Cape Town and has served as a councillor and as a member of the Western Cape government. He is a speaker who holds a Masters degree in South African and International Politics from the University of Cape Town and was attached to the university’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy where he tutored within the broader Department of Political Studies.

The latest developments in politics have been gripping as President Cyril Ramaphosa has exercised his authority and declared that graft will no longer be tolerated.

In response to his letter sent to members of the ANC, former president Jacob Zuma responded in a letter, scolding his successor for deviating from party values.

“Mr President, your letter commits the cardinal error of implicating the ANC in matters that we as leaders and those deployed in the state, must account for. To point your sharp [sic] at the entire ANC and its ordinary working-class members is rather low and disappointing, to say the least. Presently formulated, your letter lends credence to the suspicion that you seek to assist those, in our own ranks, involved in the attempts to destroy the ANC in order to hand it over to be a tool of White Monopoly Capital interests.

“Mr President, I plead with you and the entire NEC of our movement, to reflect on the issues I have raised, including the issue of corruption. I implore you to take responsibility without insulting our movement and its members, who have committed no crime of corruption as they sit waiting for the ever-elusive better life for all,” Zuma wrote.

Ramaphosa responded that he would not entertain the ‘choreographed letter’  and instead focused on the NEC (national executive) and its resolutions which were considered over the weekend.

“This is not a power contest. What we are seeking to do is reposition the African National Congress and we will reposition it through policies taken at our 54th conference. There is no magic about it,” said Ramaphosa.

In an online address (see video below), the ANC said it had decided to implement the following resolutions;

  • People who are facing charges of corruption must resign from their roles.
  • ANC members who have been found guilty of corruption should meet with the integrity commission to account for their conduct.
  • Members who are convicted stand to be permanently removed from their positions,  face disciplinary action while cadres giving explanations that are deemed lacking will be suspended.

“They have to be serious allegations that are of such a nature that somebody must answer for themselves in a satisfactory matter. Once they have done so the integrity commission must give consideration to what they say and make a decision,” Ramaphosa added in the online address.

The process of tenders will be made more transparent, Ramaphosa has said. Some of the initiatives to implement this include separating law enforcement agencies from political interference, the publication of who is tendering contracts and conducting lifestyle audits.

All this will be unpacked at the webinar on Thursday. Register here to join.

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