'Bribery exists in ANC'

18 August 2010, 07:08
Political Bureau

ANC head of campaigns Fikile Mbalula has admitted that bribery is rife at ANC conferences.

He added that the party was considering setting up a committee to tackle corruption and conflict of interests.

Mbalula said on Tuesday that an "integrity committee" would be discussed by the ANC at its mid-term national general council in Durban next month.

ANC national executive committee member Febe Potgieter-Gqubule said such a committee would be able to "look at conflicts of interest" of members and leaders.

It would also deal with false allegations against members.

Mbalula said that the committee could only be agreed upon by the party's national conference in 2012.

He said that money was being thrown around by leaders to lobby for support at ANC conferences and that it was a "danger that the organisation could be hijacked" in this way.

"The question should not be how much money you have to have to win, but how hard you have worked for the party. We have been grappling with this question for a long time," he said. Vote-buying, dirty lobbying, factionalism and smear campaigns have characterised the ANC conferences since its unbanning.

The ANC's discussion documents proposed sanctions such as the disqualification of a delegate, expulsion from the meeting and the naming and shaming of candidates and their supporters as a way of containing power struggles.

Power struggles and factional fights led to legal threats in the ANC in 2007 and court battles in the youth league this year, forcing the party to intervene and put a halt to legal battles.

Mbalula said the national general council would discuss the issue of ANC members running to the courts before exhausting internal ANC processes to resolve disputes.

"If this issue is not addressed there is a danger that the ANC will have a president that is determined by a judge," he said.

This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on August 18, 2010

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Comments by Sonny

Bribery is the order of the day in the ANC!