IN QUOTES | Jessie Duarte: It is unheard of for ANC leaders to defy its disciplinary processes

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte says the ANC is treating the implementation of the party’s step-aside rule with sensitivity and is conducting all the necessary investigations to ensure it is carried out fairly. 

Duarte was briefing the media on Tuesday on the outcomes of the national working committee (NWC) meeting, and said ANC structures are encouraged not to rely on media reports but to conduct their own investigations into the alleged misconduct of leaders.

Duarte could not confirm how many leaders have voluntarily stepped aside to date.

She spoke highly about most party leaders, saying it is unheard of for senior officials to not want to protect the ANC and accept its discipline.

Here are five quotes from her address: 

Appeals for leaders who have stepped aside

“Rule 25(70), under which the secretary-general is suspended, does not have an appeal  component. However, with any matter that goes to the integrity commission, the commission can ask a person to step aside. We have put in place an appeal team to deal with that.”

Don’t be too quick to suspend leaders 

“This is not a process we can deal with without sensitivity because it’s not a small matter. In one of the provinces which sent a letter, they thought a person may be criminally charged and we asked them to check again. When they checked, the charges were withdrawn. We’re saying: don’t go with the media report; investigate, find the person and ask for paperwork.”

Raising ANC issues on social media 

“We will talk to Israelis but the Israeli state needs to understand that we cannot be their friend when they are raining bombs on the people of Palestine. They can’t expect us to be sympathetic and have a friendship with people who do not respect human lives.”

On Israeli war against Palestine 

“We will talk to Israelis but the Israeli state needs to understand that we cannot be their friend when they are raining bombs on the people of Palestine. They can’t expect us to be sympathetic and have a friendship with people who do not respect human lives.”

ANC leaders respect the party

“It is unprecedented for a senior leader of the ANC not to want to protect the organisation in terms of Rule 25(70) and accept the organisation’s discipline. Most people who have stepped aside voluntarily do come back and they are given the space to offer their services to the ANC if they are cleared.”