By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) has committed to deal with the parts of the State Capture Inquiry report that are about the ANC and its leaders, public representatives or members.
This comes as the first part of acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s report warned that “there is alarming evidence” that political parties were being financed through the granting of corrupt tenders.
He found “at least two instances” of the proceeds of corruption from high-value contracts being diverted to the ANC.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe released a statement soon after Zondo handed over Part One of his three-part report from the State Capture Inquiry, over which he presided, to President Cyril Ramaphosa late on Tuesday afternoon.
Mabe said the governing party knew it “would itself be placed under great scrutiny” when it called for the establishment of the commission, something which Ramaphosa mentioned during his testimony before the commission.
“The ANC will engage with the findings and recommendations of the commission as the parts of the report become available, and consider how these can help to enhance the process of fundamental renewal and rebuilding within our movement,”Mabe said.
He said the ANC felt that the commission was “a necessary part of the broader social effort to end all forms of State Capture and corruption”.
Zondo mentioned two examples, the first of which involved the late Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo using a front company to solicit money from a contractor, EOH. Makhubo requested a R50-million donation from EOH for the ANC’s 2016 local government election campaign.
The other example involved the Free State government’s dealings with Blackhead Consulting, which received “a number of lucrative contracts including a 2014 asbestos audit tender valued at R255-million”. Blackhead paid the ANC millions of rands between 2013 and 2018.
Suspended ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule, who was Free State premier at the time, is facing charges in relation to the asbestos tender.
Meanwhile Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has urged Ramaphosa to table the first part of the report in Parliament to allow all parties to take remedial action.
Steenhuisen’s call came as Ramaphosa had already told the nation that he would table the full report to Parliament on June 30 after having applied his mind and possible steps to turn the tide against corruption.
But Steenhuisen is adamant that the first report must be tabled immediately. He said: “As the first of three reports from the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture was handed to Ramaphosa yesterday, our nation must now embark on the arduous journey of ridding our country of impunity and political unaccountability by charging the accused, placing them behind bars and eradicating the scourge of ANC corruption once and for all.
“I call on Ramaphosa to urgently table the first part report in Parliament so that the legislative wing of our constitutional democracy can get to work studying its findings and taking the necessary remedial action.
“The devastating fire at the National Assembly over the past 48 hours may have damaged the brick and mortar of the building, but Parliament and its duty to the people of South Africa must remain strong and effective as we enter a crucial period in post-democratic history, both for political accountability and constitutional democracy,”he said.
Steenhuisen said for far too long the ANC’s pervasive and insidious style of corruption and tender manipulation, aided and justified by the party’s cadre deployment policy, has hollowed out our public service, awarded tenders to friends and family, and robbed taxpayers of the services for which they continue to pay.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has since complained that Zondo was selective in his report that he treated witnesses like Minister of Public Enterprise Pravin Gordhan with kid gloves in a desperate attempt to become the next Chief Justice.
This is key because we believe that Zondo is in a desperate campaign to become a Chief Justice… We predict that he will therefore treat Ramaphosa with kids’ (sic) gloves in an attempt to appease him so that he can make him the Chief Justice.”
While the party said that it is looking forward to the remaining two parts of the report, they remain concerned about what the report will say on Ramaphosa, and will “not allow the Commission which was brought about by the sacrifices of our people to be reduced to a recruitment agency by Zondo and Ramaphosa.”