Thabo Mbeki Says ANC National Executive Committee Made a Mistake Regarding the Step Aside Rule
- Former President Thabo Mbeki said the ANC national executive committee made a mistake with regards to the step-aside rule
- Mbeki said people who have been criminally charged should not be allowed to run for leadership positions
- He questioned what allowing criminally charged individuals to remain in their positions does to the image of the ANC
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JOHANNESBURG - Former President Thabo Mbeki said the African National Congress’s national executive committee has made a mistake regarding the step-aside rule that needs to be corrected urgently. He said people who have been charged should not be allowed to run for leadership positions.
The former president was addressing members of the ANC Youth League national youth task team political school in Midrand on Sunday 22 May. The theme for the event was “Rebuild, renew, revive, reimagine and reposition the ANCYL towards economic freedom in our lifetime, now or never”.
Source: Getty Images
The political party faces criticism after it allowed those facing criminal charges to remain in their positions. Mbeki questioned what allowing criminally charged individuals to remain in their positions does to the image of the ANC, TimesLIVE reported.
He said the mistake the NEC made was not saying that those who have stepped aside should not run for positions while they are in a “step-aside” situation.
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Branches of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal have called for their newly elected leaders to review the party’s step-aside rule, according to News24. According to the provincial ANC, the step-aside rule’s implementation had inadequacies.
SA reacts
Social media users say the NEC ruling was not a mistake but rather more acts of corruption from the ruling party:
@newdennis said:
“The NEC no longer serve ANC ideals but themselves.”
@Lebza180 commented:
“Not a mistake at all. No. They don't know what they are doing, as in everything that they have done in this country, anything that is ANC has got no direction. They just don't know what they are doing. Period.”
@lizhammond0158 wrote:
“That was not a mistake, you are not kids. To ignore crimes knowing that they are taking place is to be a party to the crime! DO THE RIGHT THING FOR ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY.”
@CobusCoetzee2 added:
"The NEC made a mistake" NOT TRUE this is not just one mistake, the ANC NEC had made many many mistakes since 2007 allowing criminals to run and break the country.”
@ynotamil posted:
“Don't call stupidity and corruption a mistake. Allowing a convicted criminal to run for a political position is stupidity, not a mistake. It shows that cANCer just doesn't give a s**t about the country. First their friends & family, nothing else. Stuff the country.”
ANC’s Paul Mashatile defends party’s decision to ban criminally charged members from running in elections
In a related matter, Briefly News also reported the African National Congress (ANC) has stood firm in its decision to put South Africans first by disallowing criminally charged members from running for leadership positions in elections.
The political party’s national executive committee ruled that the step-aside regulation should be implemented and guidelines set out for the policy. Treasurer-general of the ANC, Paul Mashatile, said the party had to choose between its comrades or South African citizens and the NEC chose the people.
Mashatile said his comrades are affected by the step-aside rule but the needs of people are more important. According to TimesLIVE, Mashatile said it is essential to protect the political party rather than individuals and the ANC must come first even if it impacts his friends. The ruling party has been subject to critics after people believed that it rewarded members who have court cases.
Source: Briefly News
