OLIVER METH

ANCWL president and social development minister Sisisi Tolashe has been lying. Lying to us, her party, her comrades, parliament and even possibly to her children.

The countless versions she’s presented on the SUV donations saga, just do not add up. First, the vehicles are described as donations meant for the ANC Women’s League. Then questions arise about their whereabouts and use. Then came uncertainty, conflicting versions and, finally, a quiet attempt to close the issue by returning the vehicles — one of them just not the same SUV that was originally in question.

On top of that, she faces explosive allegations of using state funds to hire a nanny for her grandchildren, while a parliamentary committee has now summoned her to explain a growing list of alleged maladministration and irregular appointments in the social development ministry.

And what’s even more frustrating about this lie and her attempts to evade accountability is the triggering silence. Not just silence from President Cyril Ramaphosa, but the silence across the party’s structures. The very same silence that has been the breeding ground for injustices, corruption and criminality that ANC members enjoy.

From what has been publicly shared, the sequence raises more questions than answers. This is not just about cars, it’s about Tolashe’s credibility and once again, the silence from Ramaphosa is loud.

The scandal breaks, followed by confusion with different versions of events, shifting explanations, a slow walk back of internal processes, party discussions and an appearance before the party’s integrity structure. Time passes, the public moves on and nothing fundamentally changes. We’ve seen this before. A pattern far too often that Ramaphosa follows.

But this time, the details refuse to settle.

We now have a timeline that raises more questions than answers.

Tolashe’s version reads like a story being adjusted as she goes along. That alone should have triggered decisive action.

Tolashe’s version reads like a story being adjusted as she goes along. That alone should have triggered decisive action.

The ANC is bleeding credibility in plain sight. Its dirty laundry is no longer hidden. It is stained, and it is on display. What makes it worse is not just the scandals, but how Ramaphosa and the party responds — slowly, cautiously, and often not at all.

As a political organisation already battling a credibility crisis, the ANC continues to act as if reputational damage is something it can manage later. As if public trust will somehow repair itself, but this is no longer a side issue.

It is hard to understand why the party does not adopt a simple rule, that if you are credibly implicated in wrongdoing, you step aside immediately. There should be no debate. No delays. You return only when you are cleared. That is not punishment. That is basic respect for the institution and for the people it serves.

Yes, there is a “step-aside” rule. But in practice, it feels selective and inconsistent.

The optics alone in the Tolashe SUV saga should have been enough to force immediate action, even before all the facts were fully settled. You have a senior political figure linked to luxury vehicles, with unclear lines between what is private, what is political, and what is meant to serve an organisation.

You have donations she received that are not clearly tracked, vehicles that cannot be easily accounted for, and her shifting explanations about who used them and why. Then there are reports of her family connections being drawn into the picture — with mounting questions about their roles, access, and even financial arrangements that blur the line between public duty and personal benefit.

Even if one were to set aside the legal questions for a moment, the public perception is already damaging. It creates an image of entitlement, of blurred boundaries, of a leader who is too comfortable operating in grey areas while ordinary people are expected to follow the rules without exception.

In a country where inequality is so visible, where many struggle daily just to get by, the sight of politicians, like her, entangled in luxury asset controversies sends a message that is hard to ignore.

It suggests distance from reality, a lack of care about how actions are seen and most of all, it suggests that accountability is optional.

South Africans are asking for consequences — clear and consistent standards that show that the country comes first, before the party and before individuals.

In any organisation serious about its reputation, that kind of perception alone would be enough to trigger a step back, a pause, and a clear effort to restore trust. Not because guilt has been proven, but because leadership understands that credibility is fragile.

Instead, the party goes quiet and it’s business as usual. So the question becomes unavoidable: what exactly must happen before the ANC acts quickly and clearly?

Because from the outside, it seems the threshold keeps shifting.

South Africans are asking for consequences — clear and consistent standards that show that the country comes first, before the party and before individuals.

And yet right now, the message being sent is the opposite.

That internal unity matters more than public trust, that political comfort comes before ethical clarity and scandals can be managed, instead of confronted.

And at the centre of all this is Ramaphosa, who came into office promising a “new dawn”. A fresh start. A break from the past.

But that “new dawn” now feels like a false hope.

Not because the idea was wrong — it has been compromised in practice. Because when real moments of testing come, the response is too often slow, careful and undecided.

That is not renewal. It is the old way continuing under a new name. An old sunset, stretched out for as long as possible.

There have been many chances for the ANC to start fixing this. It does not need a big conference or new policies. It needs discipline.

Until then, the scandals will keep coming. The silence will keep speaking and the trust that the ANC once held will keep slipping away because in the end, it is not just the wrongdoing that damages a party, it is the failure to deal with it.