Steenhuisen: ‘Toothless’ ANC integrity commission not the answer
Democratic Alliance (DA) interim leader John Steenhuisen says the African National Congress (ANC) continues to reward, rather than punish, corrupt members of the party.
This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote a strong-worded letter to ANC members - labelling Covid-19 corruption as an “unforgivable betrayal” for ordinary South Africans.
But Steenhuisen says the letter would just be “word salad” if Ramaphosa fails to follow it up with action.
He says the appointment of corruption-accused former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature is proof of the ineffectiveness of the ANC’s integrity commission.
"Strengthening it, as President Ramaphosa mentions in his letter, will mean that corrupt cadres will merely receive a harsher slap on the wrist instead of being investigated, prosecuted, and jailed, which is a long overdue outcome for so many members of the ANC and its governments.”
LISTEN TO JOHN STEENHUISEN HERE:
He says Ramaphosa must lay charges of corruption against his own party members followed by immediate suspension.
"I will be compiling a list of each and every ANC member and public servant facing allegations of corruption in the coming week which I will submit to the president, and which the Democratic Alliance will track very closely to see just how serious President Ramaphosa alleges he has become in the fight against his party’s corruption.”
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[FULL LETTER] Ramaphosa: ANC 'deeply implicated' in corruption
"We must acknowledge that our movement, the African National Congress, has been and remains deeply implicated in South Africa's corruption problem. We have to be sensitive to the concerns that are being raised by our people about our role as a movement in corrupt activities.