Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki has bemoaned ANC leaders’ fights about credentials dominating party conferences, leaving little room for policy discussions.
Mbeki used the recent ANC Eastern Cape conference as an example of one hijacked by obsessions about positions.
The conference secured a win for Oscar Mabuyane as chairperson, but it was delayed by hours and extended for an extra day because of fighting about credentials and which delegates were legally allowed to vote.
There was barely any discussion of the province’s policies, which were postponed to later dates.
Mbeki said these delays and fights about who voted for who showed that some ANC leaders were more concerned about their positions than the policy direction of the party.
“The comrades in the Eastern Cape, the conference did not discuss organisational policies and reports because it was busy with credentials. A big battle about credentials, therefore I must count how many people are there and which ones are on my side.
“The Eastern Cape sat there for so many days fighting about credentials, because it sends a message that what matters is what position I am in,” he said.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa complimented delegates in his closing address at the conference for a peaceful gathering, saying little about the delays.
Mbeki was addressing the ANC Youth League Task Team’s political school over the weekend.
The former ANC leader has been outspoken about the ANC’s need to take another look at the quality of leaders who were elected.
He pointed to the ANC’s declining electoral performances, which reached its most concerning point during the municipal elections. The party lost key metros and Mbeki said the party had to take the quality of those who represent it seriously.
He said:
Mbeki used his address to point to concerns about the ANC’s step-aside resolution.
The rule initially forced members who were criminally charged to step aside from leadership roles while their cases were pending.
The rule has since been amended to bar the same implicated people from running for leadership positions.
Mbeki said the initial 2017 ANC conference did not indicate that members who had been charged should step aside and not compete for leadership positions.
He said the ANC faced a public image crisis when those members who had stepped aside were elected to positions while on leave.
The recent election of Zandile Gumede as eThekwini regional chairperson, who faces corruption charges, and murder-accused Mandla Msibi as ANC provincial treasurer in Mpumalanga, raised similar questions.
The two were elected before the ANC amended the step-aside rule. They have since made no indication as to whether they are prepared to resign from their elected positions.
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