President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking at the ANC's January 8th birthday celebrations in Limpopo. Photo: Twitter/@MYANC
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged parties members to stop tolerating indiscipline happening within the party.
Ramaphosa delivered a keynote January 8 statement at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo.
Party members look the other way when acts of indiscipline happen, he said.
“We even hear that in ANC meetings, someone stand up and assault a female member of the ANC and we close our eyes and fail to take action.”
“Those who do such have defined themselves outside of the ANC. You must know that once you have done something like that, you are no longer a member of the ANC.”
“If I stand up and slap NEC member Nomvula Mokonyane, I should know that the door is open, I must leave the ANC,” Ramaphosa said.
“If I steal public funds, I must know that I am no longer a member. We must know that there are certain things that cannot be done…certain things that the ANC won’t tolerate.”
“I know sometimes we weaken, sometimes we flack, that’s the life of an organisation but now, our renewal process means we must re-double…let us cleanse the ANC.”
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Ramaphosa said the indiscipline was making people distance themselves away from the ANC, wondering what kind of a party tolerates ongoing indiscipline.
“I say we must act on acts of indiscipline. If we can achieve that, we will endear ourselves to our communities, our people will see that we are serious in rebuilding the ANC,” he said.
Turning to the party’s project to renew and rebuild itself, Ramaphosa said the NEC took a decision to set up a commission to develop a roadmap towards its 120th birthday in 2032.
The renewal and rebuilding of the governing party will take time and experience successes and some setbacks, Ramaphosa said.
“The aim is to ensure that the ANC Renewal Commission develops proposals that can be operationalised as a matter of urgency. Its work will also be informed by continuous consultation with structures of the ANC, Alliance partners and the broad democratic movement.”
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The NEC is expected to announce the terms of reference and composition of the commission so it can start its work by the end of this month.
Ramaphosa said the ANC welcomed the first part of the Zondo report on state capture and that his party would support government in implementing measures required to get rid of state capture and corruption.
“We call on all South Africans to engage with the Commission’s report and to be part of the national effort to put state capture behind us and build an ethical, capable developmental state and a society governed by the values of our democratic Constitution and the rule of law.”
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