ANC in KZN reconstitutes integrity commission to fight corruption

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The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has revived its integrity commission which collapsed over a year ago due to the death of three of its five commissioners.

The role of the commission includes enforcing the ANC’s step-aside rule, which stipulates that party members facing criminal charges should step down from their positions.

Cases that have come before the ANC provincial integrity commission include that of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, who is facing corruption charges in connection with the solid waste tenders at the eThekwini Municipality.

Briefing the media on Tuesday,  after the ANC provincial executive committee’s ordinary meeting, party provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said all ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal were expected to cooperate with the commission.

ANC leaders across all structures are expected to subject themselves before this committee,” he said, adding that the committee would put special focus on the performance of ANC-deployed leaders in relation to service delivery.

Apart from conducting lifestyle audits, where necessary, the integrity committee would create channels to encourage members to report any form of corruption and give support to the initiatives the ANC government had already created in this regard.

The reconstituted KZN ANC integrity commission, Mtolo said, would be led by its previous chairperson Sipho Magwaza, who has been appointed as the commission’s convenor. Other members of the commission include former KZN premier Willies Mchunu and former social development MEC Weziwe Thusi.

The ANC established the commission as part of the party’s revival programme aimed at restoring public trust amid perceptions that the organisation’s leadership was reluctant to take action against members implicated in corruption.

The perceptions were reinforced by the Zondo commission, which found that several ANC leaders had played a role in state capture and allowing corruption to thrive.

Mtolo said the reconstitution of the commission sent a strong signal that the ANC in KZN was committed to rooting out corruption in its ranks.

“ANC conferences have taken a strong stand and instructed all structures to root out corruption, expose it and speak out against it at all times.

“This is how the idea of forming the integrity committee came as an additional arsenal in weeding out the corrupt elements within the ranks and in society in general.

“A new level of consciousness must emphasise that, where corruption is concerned, it is an offence against community, government as well as in the party for which strong action  will follow as soon as the party becomes aware [of it].”

While the ANC in KZN agreed the party had a duty to root out corruption in government, the province is opposed to the step-aside rule.

According to the ANC provincial leadership, the rule is not in line with the provisions of the Constitution, which stipulates that a person is deemed innocent until found guilty by a court of law.

However, the advocates of the step-aside rule within the ANC are adamant the rule is necessary given that the public expected the governing party to take extraordinary steps to demonstrate its commitment to the fight against corruption.

This article was first published in The Witness.