Former president Thabo Mbeki has suggested that the ANC’s step-aside rule must apply to any member who has corruption allegations levelled against them, even if that member is not formally charged.

Mbeki said any allegation levelled against an ANC member tarnishes the party and that is why they must voluntarily step aside.

The ANC’s step-aside rule requires members facing serious criminal charges to step down from their positions. The rule was adopted when former secretary-general Ace Magashule was facing corruption charges.

Speaking at the Thabo Mbeki African School dialogue at Unisa on Wednesday, Mbeki gave an example of a former Free State provincial executive committee member who was an ANC member and also taxi owner, who voluntarily stepped aside, before the rule was enforced, to clear his name after allegations emerged that he was involved in killing people during taxi wars.

Mbeki commended the person as a true member of the ANC.

“I tell a story of some years back, an ANC comrade who was the PEC member in the Free State he was MEC and a taxi owner. A story appeared that he has been involved in taxi wars and people died. You know what this comrade did? He approached the ANC in the province and informed the national leadership to say I am resigning as a member of the PEC and the MEC. I have not killed anybody, I will defend this matter in court, which he did and was found not guilty.

“He was saying the mere fact that there is a popular view that I am a murderer, it tarnishes the image of the ANC, and therefore I must leave. He never said I have not been charged, that is a genuine ANC member. Anyone who says I will only step aside once I am charged, you must know that they are not genuine ANC members.”

Reacting to the former president’s remarks, Zululand University political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said what Mbeki is implying is that President Cyril Ramaphosa should have already stepped aside for the Phala Phala saga.

“Ramaphosa should have stepped aside when he faced corruption allegations regarding Phala Phala. This also shows that agencies like the NPA, are protecting him. The Phala Phala saga was the biggest scandal to surround a president in modern times but Ramaphosa is still the president.

“But we must also look at the other side of this, Mbeki by saying this may be trying to be relevant. I mean would he just step aside because someone has accused him of something? The step-aside rule is good but it must be enforced effectively, not only to a few members.”

Political lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Lubna Nadvi, said the suggestion by Mbeki that the step-aside rule be reviewed is a good one.

“It will strengthen the efforts to curb corruption within the party as well as reduce the temptation to become involved in any form of corruption.”

ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang in 2022 called on Ramaphosa to immediately step aside pending investigations into the Phala Phala saga.

Msimang said it was advisable for the president to step down for sake of the stability of the ANC and the country.

“If the public is not satisfied with what he says, I think the good thing for the sake of the country and for his own sake would be to say, while this investigation takes place I will step aside as long as there is a lack of satisfaction about the answers that he has given.”

The Mercury