Africa-Press – South-Africa. Durban – A showdown between ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and the party’s NEC integrity commission is set to get underway on Saturday after the former Free State premier volunteered to appear before the commission.
In a statement issued by the commission’s chairperson, George Mashamba, that appeared to seek to safeguard the contents of the meeting as much as possible, the commission confirmed it would sit down with Magashule today.
The SG has been facing growing calls to step down from his office by opposition parties and some within the ruling party’s ranks after he had been formally charged with 21 charges relating to fraud, corruption and money laundering by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court last month.
Mashamba said they will outline the process to be followed after the meeting.
“Once the engagement has been completed, we will issue a statement confirming that it has happened and outlining the process that is to be followed. We would appreciate the co-operation of the media throughout this process.
“We understand the level of public interest, not just among the membership of the ANC but in society at large, but are duty-bound to respect protocol and process to ensure an outcome that is in line with our mandate,” Mashamba said.
Mashamba was also at pains to stress the commission is a structure of the NEC, that is accountable to the NEC, and totally respects its processes and procedures.
Delivering his political overview at the party’s NEC meeting this week, Ramaphosa said they had a direct instruction to renew the organisation complete with a clear resolution on rebuilding the integrity and credibility of the ANC.
“At the NEC meeting of 28-30 August, we took firm and unequivocal decisions on the fight against corruption within our structures and across society. These decisions were drawn directly from the decisions of the 54th national conference.
“We described our stance as ‘a line in the sand’, representing our collective determination not to give any ground in fighting against corruption,” said Ramaphosa.
During that August NEC meeting Ramaphosa asked leaders who had been charged with corruption to step aside in a move he said was an indication of the ANC drawing a line between itself and those leaders who were corrupt.
“Cadres of the ANC who are formally charged for corruption or other serious crimes must immediately step aside from all leadership positions in the ANC, legislatures or other government structures pending the finalisation of their cases,” said Ramaphosa at the time.
At the latest NEC meeting, which concluded on Tuesday, the party was presented with five legal opinions on whether party members charged with corruption could be forced to step aside and were presented to the NEC and deliberated by the governing party’s top decision making structure.
Magashule said he did not want to pre-judge the outcome of the meeting with the integrity commission.
