The ANC needs to revise its strategy on dealing with graft

The governing party always promises to root out corruption wherever it rears its ugly head, but there has been little evidence of this on the ground.

eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede. Picture: Bongani Mbatha / African News Agency (ANA)

The move by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal to act decisively against eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede, her Msunduzi municipality counterpart, Themba Njilo, and others found on the wrong side of the law is laudable and long overdue.

Njilo has already accepted the party’s decision in good spirit, but Gumede, as expected, claims she is a victim of some party machination because she is a supporter of Jacob Zuma.

To Gumede and her supporters, the fact that she is facing serious charges of money laundering, racketeering and corruption pertaining to a waste removal tender, is neither here nor there.

She has the back of ANC Women’s League chief, Bathabile Dlamini, who is protesting her alleged victimisation because she is a woman. That’s as absurb as anything that comes out of Dlamini’s mouth.

According to the ANC’s provincial secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli, besides graft charges Gumede had to answer to, under her and Njilo service delivery took a turn for the worse and the two municipalities needed urgent attention.

The governing party always promises to root out corruption wherever it rears its ugly head, but there has been little evidence of this on the ground.

Their inaction is always premised on their belief in their self-created notion that “you are not guilty until proven guilty”, as Dlamini herself said this week. The party strongly puts emphasis on “not guilty” or being completely innocent therefore nothing to worry about by the member. In the ANC world, it’s not a presumption but a fact that you are not guilty.

But in law, the concept is more about presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, which implies you are presumed guilty at the same time. This means that within the term “presumed innocent” there is an unsaid “presumed guilty”, both of which must be proven.

So, it can’t be business as usual for the suspect, due to the public perception of him/her on which any organisation can invoke its rules of discipline if it believes you may be bringing the organisation into disrepute.

In the case of Gumede and company, the ANC acted by first putting the mayor on “special leave” and subsequently subjecting her to its internal processes before showing her the door. That’s exactly what is expected – suspend, discipline and fire.

We just hope this will be emulated by all other municipalities, including Buffalo City where two former mayors, instead of being disciplined, were promoted to the National Assembly despite myriad graft-related allegations against them.

Buffalo City gained notoriety over the years for promoting its corrupt councillors. Some were redeployed to the provincial legislature although they were embroiled in the Mandela memorial service/funeral fraud scandal. Service delivery in Buffalo City itself, home of struggle heroes like Alcott Gwentshe, Malcomess Mgabela, Steve Tshwete, Steve Biko and Thozamile Gqweta, has collapsed due to political infighting.

The action against Gumede and Njilo and their executives gives hope that the ANC is beginning to realise its mistake of rewarding wrongdoing. But their pending redeployment to other tasks defeats the good purpose of their punishment. This strategy is not sustainable, renders the ANC disciplinary processes a farce, and justifies Gumede and Bathabile’s belief that indeed the mayor is being victimised.