Mbalula says the ANC is a party that believes in second chances.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. Picture: Gallo Images
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula has defended President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint disgraced former minister of communications Dina Pule as the new minister of social development.
In a press briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday, Mbalula said Pule had served her punishment after being fired as the minister of communications by former president Jacob Zuma in 2013.
At the time, she was embroiled in a number of scandals, including accusations of corruption, maladministration, cronyism, wasteful expenditure and abusing state resources with her then romantic partner.
She had been serving as a member of parliament before Ramaphosa this week announced her as the new social development minister.
Mbalula claimed Pule had shown “accountability”.
“Ours is a movement in the midst of renewal of its values, its ethical standing and the trust of the people and in such a moment South Africans are right to hold their leaders to the highest bar. We here that call and we take it seriously.
“To answer this honestly, we must not speak of only a sanction served but of the work of correction that is being done and that continues. The people of South Africa do not hand down life sentences, least of all where there has been accountability, redress and correction,” said Mbalula.
Dina Pule’s ‘accountability’
He said the transgressions that Pule committed happened more than 10 years ago and were sanctioned at a government level and by the ANC.
“She accepted the consequences, she stepped aside before we even made it policy, she stepped aside, she even stepped down from her responsibilities and positions… she never served in any structure in the ANC – she disappeared,” he said.
Mbalula said Pule did not want to be defined by her mistakes.
“She went back to the ground and worked to uplift thousands upon thousands away from the limelight, that is what accountability looks like,” he said.
Mbalula said the ANC believes in redemption and in the ability of people to start afresh.
“In the years since, comrade Pule earned back the confidence of her peers through the most democratic tests our movement offers,” he said.
How Pule regained the ANC’s confidence
Mbalula said the ANC showed it had confidence in her when she was appointed to the ANC’s National Executive Committee, assigned to serious tasks in the ANCYL, and returned as a member of parliament.
“A person that has answered for her mistake, served her sanction, and rebuilt trust through the free choice of her peers and the electorate is not to be condemned into perpetuity.”
Mbalula said the ANC stands behind Pule’s appointment.
He said Pule had undergone “internal ethics counselling.”
“She consulted with our veterans, whose wisdom and moral authority the ANC holds dear, without being directed by a disciplinary committee or an integrity committee. Those committees were not there when Dina committed what she did,” he said.
A second chance
Mbalula said Pule is grateful to have been given a second chance by Ramaphosa.
“She knows better than most that it carries a heavy price and a heavy responsibility for the ANC in this very period of renewal, the renewal of our values, our ethical standing and the trust of our people. She carries that weight consciously and she is determined to honour it in her service,” said Mbalula.
Anti-corruption mechanism
According to Mbalula decades ago the ANC did not have stringent structures to deal with rogue party members. He said those found wanting would go through counselling and ethical training.
Mbalula suggested that it is not fair to remind Pule of her mistakes.
“Dina did not go to jail, she was sanctioned, she apologised, she stood in parliament and after that she stepped down, not by directive of the ANC, she left,” he said.
He said the ANC is a party that gives people a chance.
According to Mbalula, it would be incorrect to compare Pule to her predecessor, Sisisi Tolashe.
“The question is, will Sisisi learn from her mistakes and become a different cadre in the long term?”
He said Tolashe is still undergoing disciplinary action in the ANC.
He said the ANC is convinced that Pule is rehabilitated and, that she had repented.
He also said Pule’s return does not mean the ANC is not taking its renewal programme seriously.
