ANC draft elections list includes Zuma and other state capture-accused

While the final ANC elections list for 2019 has not yet been finalised, the Daily Maverick and the Mail & Guardian are among publications who have reported they have seen a draft list. It controversially includes a number of politicians who have been implicated in state capture and other corruption scandals, such as Malusi Gigaba, Supra Mahumapelo, Mosebenzi Zwane, Nomvula Mokonyane, Faith Muthambi, Bathabile Dlamini, and former president Jacob Zuma.

According to Mail & Guardian, the draft list places Zuma at number 74, Gigaba at 26, and Dlamini at 17.

Muthambi, Mahumapelo, Mokonyane, and Zwane are also put forward for parliamentary seats on the list.

African News Agency reported on Sunday that presidential spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the names would now be reviewed, with those that “sow division” or have criminal records, among other things, expected to be removed from the lists. Once this process was over, the names would be forwarded to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in the run-up to the elections scheduled for May.

Kodwa said: “The public representatives must know they are chosen and did not choose themselves. The list must be electable. They must enhance the integrity of the ANC. This conference was not about adding or removing. It was about receiving lists from branches. The vetting might mean removing names, literally, because there is a means test.

READ MORE: ANC has not ruled out choosing Zuma as MP

“[This test] will include criminal records, those who have a history of sowing divisions, people who have been to disciplinary committees of the ANC, and people who can’t pass the test of integrity for the ANC.”

Joint acting spokesperson Dakota Legoete said various “consultative processes” would take place to make sure the list incorporated “non-racialism, non-sexism, a generational mix, integrity, political acumen, and expertise”.

Legoete said: “There is no doubt that the ANC’s list process is the most comprehensive and transparent in South Africa’s political terrain, guided by a set of guidelines that [ensures] internal democracy. The guidelines ensure that the core values of the ANC are reflected in the calibre of people who get nominated to become the ANC’s public representatives in parliament and provincial legislatures.”

While a recently released poll undertaken by research outfit Ipsos polled the ANC at 61% support, slightly lower than in the presidential elections in 2014 but significantly higher than the 53.9% they achieved in the 2016 municipal elections, many on social media have questioned the presence of politicians believed to be corrupt on the list.

https://twitter.com/Jonas2909/status/1081818748699529216

https://twitter.com/dougieoakes/status/1076743223228489730

https://twitter.com/ShackletonLaw/status/1076374231636762624

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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