State capture report provides concrete basis to move forward
3 November 2016
The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the release of the Public Protector’s report entitled “State of Capture” into allegations of improper and unethical conduct by the President and other state functionaries on matters relating to the removal and appointment of Ministers and Executives of State Owned Enterprises. Following intervention the ANC would have sought to make on allegations of interference in the removal and appointment of Ministers, this report provides a concrete basis for the ANC and society in general to discuss the allegations contained therein and deal with its outcomes.
The African National Congress has long considered allegations of state capture as an attack on our democratic architecture and an anti-thesis of the values held dear by the ANC. It is for this reason, the ANC would have brought this matter to the public domain, established our own mechanism to seek a resolution, as we considered the matter as acknowledged by the Public Protector, “worthy of examination or scrutiny.” Indeed it is the ANC that made the call that anyone with information regarding these allegations should make it available to the Public Protector or other appropriate organs of state competent to deal with the matter.
Based on the investigations conducted by the Public Protector, South Africans have greater clarity of the concerning relationships that those in government and state owned enterprises interacting with capital and private interests should be wary of. We are further pleased by the activism that civil society in general has shown in joining the fight against graft and we trust that the same vigour and commitment will be harnessed and directed to the very important project of fundamental socio-economic transformation, deracialising our economy and the creation of a justice and equitable society which needs all of us, including captains of industry, to pull towards. The fight against corruption is not a fight against government; it requires all stakeholders – particularly business – to commit to ending the vicious cycle by also acting decisively against it in their own ranks.
As a start, the ANC, for its part, reiterates the decision of the last meeting of the National Executive Committee to introduce lifestyle audits for all leaders of the ANC at all levels of the organisation. The National Officials of the ANC will also be making declarations of all their interests to the Secretary General. These are some of the immediate initiatives the ANC is undertaking as concrete action to expose and root out corruption wherever it rears its head.
The ANC’s seminal document, Through the Eye of the Needle, is instructive that as a movement for fundamental change, the organisation requires leaders who would lead the task of governance with diligence and who are equal to the challenge of each phase of struggle. It further calls on those in leadership positions to unite and guide the movement to be at the head of the process of change. As the ANC and the country engages with the recommendations of the Public Protector’s report, the ANC calls on all its members to remain uncompromisingly intolerant of corruption and the abuse of state power in any form. We further call on all leaders and structures of the ANC to remain vigilant against interests that would seek to use proximity to the ANC and its deployed cadres for the pursuit of selfish interests. Branches of the ANC must reach out to all sectors of society and unite the people of South Africa around a common fight against corruption and building a united, non-racial South Africa. Ours is to continue to uphold the values of a revolutionary movement, deliver on our commitment to serve and never betray or undermine the trust of our people.
Issued by Zizi Kodwa, National Spokesperson, ANC, 3 November 2016
