In December 2013 the statesman and former president of both the ANC and country, Nelson Mandela, departed the land of the living.
Interestingly, almost a year earlier, the ANC had met in Mangaung in the Free State for its national conference and taken a groundbreaking resolution on repairing the tarnished image of the party, a result of a number of leading figures being associated with rampant fraud and corruption charges yet continuing to hold public office and/ or elected positions in the ruling party.
The ANC resolved to set up a national integrity committee (NIC) composed of veterans of the movement who had an impeccable record of service to society and South Africa’s liberation struggle.
These men and women were to use the values of the ANC and its track record of conduct as a barometer to determine cases before them and make recommendations to the national executive committee (NEC).
The NIC of the ANC at its inception was led by Isithwalandwe Andrew Mlangeni, a Rivonia trialist and a close comrade of Madiba.
It was during the time while the country was mourning the departure of Mandela that the Hawks alleged serious fraud, corruption and money laundering against some of the leaders of the ANC in the Buffalo City Metro (BCM).
It is public knowledge that on June 23 2014, the Hawks arrested a number of officials in BCM among them the then executive mayor Zukiswa Ncitha, ANC regional secretary Pumlani Mkolo, senior councillor Sindiswa Gomba and Luleka Simon-Ndzele.
On August 20 2014, the local media reported: “BCM trio to hear fate soon” and noted that “the provincial executive committee of the ANC is awaiting recommendation from the ANC national integrity committee before taking action against officials implicated in the Mandela memorial funds scandal”.
It has since come to pass that the verdict of the NIC handed over to then secretary-general Gwede Mantashe was fully accepted by the NEC.
The decision was subsequently communicated to the Phumulo Masualle-led PEC at the time and it was dated April 10 2015.
As a result of the binding nature of the decision of the NIC, their recommendations had to be implemented and these were the consequences:
Executive mayor Zukiswa Ncitha was recalled;
Deputy executive mayor Temba Tinta was recalled (and later cleared of any wrongdoing); and
Speaker Luleka Simon-Ndzele was recalled.
The verdict by the NIC on Mkolo was much more damning as he was instructed to:
Immediately step down from the elected position of regional secretary indefinitely; pending the finalisation of the Mandela scandal trial;
Not partake in the 2016 local government elections campaign of the ANC due to the gravity of the charges he faced and the damage to the ANC brand; and
Not to participate in any organisational activities until his matter was finalised in a court of law.
The above verdict of the structures of the ANC was carried out and accepted by all the structures and members of the ANC, including Mkolo.
In December 2017 the ANC held its 54th national conference in Nasrec and reiterated the need to strengthen the NIC and its work so as to restore the good image of the ruling party.
The BCM verdict was never appealed nor overturned by any structure of the ANC or court of law and as such it remains in force.
The ANC has declared 2018 the year to mark the centenary of Mandela and Albertina Sisulu and throughout the year, we are celebrating the lifelong lessons that tata and mama taught us as a nation.
How ironic that it is during this year that the ANC would pay lip service to its own resolutions with regard to issues of integrity?
On Monday September 3 2018 the entire country woke up to the headline: “The Nelson Mandela fraud, corruption and money laundering accused Pumlani Mkolo elected chairperson of Buffalo City Metro” at the Dr WB Rubusana regional conference.
The rest of the society and the electorate have not forgotten the decisions of the ANC – only the Oscar Mabuyane-led PEC decided to conveniently forget that there is a standing verdict on Mkolo.
Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize, the NEC member handling appeals in the recent regional conference, also failed to bring to the attention of the ANC and delegates the fact that Mkolo remains ineligible indefinitely, pending the completion of his trial on the fraud, corruption and money laundering charges.
It becomes incumbent on all of us to ask the Mabuyane-led PEC and the President Cyril Ramaphosa-led NEC if we are paying lip service to the fundamental task of restoring the integrity of the ANC and bringing about the “new dawn”.
The other question to ask is whether those who have supported us in previous conferences, are to be treated differently in terms of rules, thereby turning a blind eye to their wrongdoing, against the best values, traditions and resolutions of the movement? Why is it tricky to be firm on matters of principle in the new dawn?
We have begun to engage with society in order to have an overwhelming victory for the ANC in 2019 and soon have to do door-to-door campaigns.
Certainly, people will ask us about the election of Mkolo despite the ANC decision that had kept him home since 2015!..