TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      MTN hires outgoing Icasa CEO Willington Ngwepe into top role

      16 August 2022

      Rain in embarrassing climbdown over Telkom statement

      16 August 2022

      Jo’burg to issue RFP for 500MW of electricity ‘within weeks’

      16 August 2022

      Load shedding returns, and may last until Thursday

      16 August 2022

      Coal miner Seriti plans R12-billion Mpumalanga wind farm

      16 August 2022
    • World

      Semiconductor boom turns to bust

      16 August 2022

      Tencent plans to offload R400-billion Meituan stake: sources

      16 August 2022

      Ether leaps higher on verge of Merge

      16 August 2022

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Africa Data Centres
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Current affairs»Corruption threatens to tear ANC apart

    Corruption threatens to tear ANC apart

    Current affairs By Agency Staff27 January 2017
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Jacob Zuma

    The pursuit of money among some members of the ANC is becoming so intense that senior officials say it’s threatening to split the ruling party and damage its ability to govern.

    In power since Nelson Mandela led the ANC to power 23 years ago in the nation’s first multiracial elections, the former liberation movement is now increasingly seen as an avenue to secure state contracts and jobs, with routine reports of bribery to win positions.

    The issue has become so worrying that some senior officials are breaking the party’s tradition of closing ranks to deal with internal problems by speaking out.

    “Leadership contests are accompanied by practices such as gate-keeping, vote buying, electoral fraud and even violence,” deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech this month. “We must face the reality that much of the factionalism in our movement is rooted in a competition for access to resources.”

    The manipulation of government appointments has undermined the state’s ability to deliver education, housing and other services. As much as 40% of the R600bn budget for goods and services is consumed by inflated prices from suppliers and fraud, the national treasury’s procurement office estimated last year.

    “The problem seems to be getting worse,” Mashupye Maserumule, professor of public affairs at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, the capital, said by phone. “The challenge going forward is that there might be an ANC in name, but the real power might lie with certain individuals who have profited so much from the state.”

    The intensifying debate comes as the ANC is scheduled to choose a new leader to succeed President Jacob Zuma in December and continues its soul-searching of how it suffered its worst-ever electoral performance in an August municipal vote, when it lost control of Pretoria and the economic hub of Johannesburg to opposition party coalitions.

    Zuma, 74, acknowledged the problem in a 8 January address to an ANC rally in Johannesburg, when urged the party to take a decisive stand against those who abuse their positions to further personal agendas, saying members must “live a life of humility, integrity and selfless service to the people.”

    Critics argue that Zuma, who took office in May 2009 just weeks after prosecutors dropped graft charges against him, hasn’t led by example.

    Zuma’s scandals

    In a 2014 report, the graft ombudsman found that the president unfairly benefited from a taxpayer-funded R215,9m upgrade of his private home, and last year the nation’s top court ruled that he violated his oath of office by refusing to repay some of the money.

    In a separate finding last year, the ombudsman implied that Zuma allowed a wealthy family in business with his son to influence cabinet appointments and the awarding of state contracts.

    Scandals implicating Zuma contributed to the ANC’s poor showing in the municipal elections in August last year. The president, who’s due to step down as ANC leader in December and as the nation’s leader in 2019, denies intentionally breaking the law.

    Even so, the problem of corruption and the faction fighting it breeds in the ANC has escalated during Zuma’s tenure as leader. The party has received reports of people buying membership cards in bulk, guaranteeing them control of a branch, and of some bodies claiming members that don’t exist, according to ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa.

    “We have never seen the influence of money like we have seen in the recent past,” he said in an interview. “Big business and people with fat pockets will want to capture a leader or the whole leadership for their own selfish interests.”

    Founded in 1912 and widely credited for leading the fight against apartheid, the ANC had about 769 000 members at last count in October 2015.

    Ramaphosa, one of the front runners to succeed Zuma, called on the the party to adopt measures to deal with conflicts of interest, alleged criminal conduct and ethical breaches. State procurement processes also need to be insulated from political interference, he said.

    Rooting out corruption and restoring the ANC’s tarnished reputation won’t be easy, according to Maserumule.

    “There is this perception that if you want to benefit in South Africa one way or another, for a tender, for a job, for whatever, you must be a member of the ANC,” he said. Those who use to party to enrich themselves “are not just going to just sit down and fold their arms, they are going to fight back. It is going to be a mini-war within the ANC itself.”  — (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP

    Cyril Ramaphosa Jacob Zuma Nelson Mandela
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous Article‘Please call me’ battle back in court
    Next Article Zuma may fire disobedient ministers

    Related Posts

    Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

    12 August 2022

    Presidency trumpets ICT, electricity reforms

    7 August 2022

    Government says it’s serious about fixing the electricity crisis

    2 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    HPE SimpliVity: addressing SMBs’ data conundrums

    16 August 2022

    Digital transformation – don’t get caught unprepared

    16 August 2022

    Seven reasons your business needs IP surveillance cameras

    15 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.