By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
The ANC’s deputy chairperson in KZN, Mike Mabuyakhulu, has announced that he is stepping aside.
Mabuyakhulu was charged with corruption relating to the R28 million that the provincial government spent on the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2012.He is on R50,000 bail.
He is the first senior ANC official to accept the party’s resolution that those facing criminal charges must step aside.
In his letter, Mabuyakhulu said: “I write to notify the African National Congress (ANC) of my decision to step aside from my current position as the Provincial Deputy Chairperson of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, in line with the resolution of the 54th Conference of the ANC, as well as the subsequent guidelines adopted by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC in March 2021.”
He said in the letter that even though he is stepping aside, he does so noting that he was elected to his position by delegates at the provincial conference, who were aware of his pending legal matters.
Mabuyakhulu said he thought he was elected regardless of his case because the delegates felt he could make a meaningful contribution as part of a collective that was elected at the conference.
He accepted the nomination and election because he believed he would be cleared of all charges, he said.
“I have been a member of the ANC for nearly 40 years. What we were taught when we joined this glorious movement is that one’s political consciousness coupled with self-discipline are the leadership traits that make an ANC leader to stand out from the rest,” Mabuyakhulu said in the letter.
He added that the ANC is not about individualism and that no leader should be bigger than the party.
This came after the party’s national working committee (NWC) said on Tuesday that leaders facing corruption charges and others serious crimes, including secretary-general Ace Magashule, would be suspended.
The NWC instructed the secretary-general’s office to write letters to all members affected by the rule. NWC members said because Magashule was one of them, his deputy, Jessie Duarte, was expected to draft the letters.
The development is a victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cleanup campaign. He campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket. The decision is expected to spark fierce debate at this weekend’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, starting on Saturday.