The ANC is playing ping-pong with the integrity commission’s report on the Phala Phala scandal, with the party this week referring it back to the national executive committee (NEC).
Party bosses avoided tabling the report at the national conference as promised late last year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared before the party’s integrity commission to explain himself after the revelation of a theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
The report was initially meant to be discussed by the previous NEC.
But the outgoing NEC referred the matter to the national conference, which officially closed this week without a mention of Phala Phala.
Instead, the matter has now been referred to the new NEC, with some leaders suggesting it will most likely never be discussed until the scandal dies down.
New party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told reporters the matter was never on the agenda. But the previous NEC had told the media the commission would table its report at the conference.
According to a programme shared before the conference, integrity commission chair George Mashamba would present the commission’s report on the first day, December 16. But the conference was marred by delays and some items on the programme were skipped.
A draft report, said to be that of the integrity commission, was leaked to the media late last year. It concluded that the Phala Phala scandal had brought the party into disrepute.
According to that report, the ethics body could not determine whether Ramaphosa, those who work on the farm, former spy chief Arthur Fraser or ANC members should be held responsible.
The report reads: “Given that we have not been able to hear from Cde President, we are unable to determine the cause of what has brought the ANC into disrepute.
Given that we have not been able to hear from Cde President, we are unable to determine the cause of what has brought the ANC into disrepute
— Draft report
“It could be that it is the actions of individuals on Cde President’s farm that has brought the ANC into disrepute. It could be Cde President’s response to events on the farm that have brought the ANC into disrepute.
"It could be the reporting of the incident to the police station by an ANC member that has brought the ANC into disrepute.
“It could be forces external to the ANC and the way in which they have mobilised around the incident, that has brought the ANC into disrepute. It could be the way in which forces within the ANC have mobilised that have brought the ANC into disrepute.
“It could be that Cde President broke the law that has brought the ANC into disrepute.”
The commission said it was difficult to reach a conclusion as the matter had been placed at the centre of the party’s battle for leadership
Ramaphosa’s opponents, who are a tiny minority in the new NEC, say the president can’t wish the integrity commission report away.
They insist they will force the matter onto the agenda of the first NEC ordinary meeting, scheduled for January 14-16.
According to the president’s detractors in the NEC, Ramaphosa’s allies are doing all in their power to ensure that the report never sees the light of day because of its political implications.
Political analyst Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana said there were clearly machinations in the handling of the report.
“I was surprised initially that the NEC referred the report to conference, which was a serious departure from normal practice,” said Ndletyana.
“The puzzling point was that I thought Cyril would comfortably survive the NEC meeting that would have discussed the matter — he had gained the majority in the NEC.
“What it indicates though is that ANC decisions are based on what is expedient at the time. It was dereliction of duty on part of the NEC. How was plenary going to deal with the issue without causing ructions?”
An NEC member said the party’s leadership was afraid to table the matter but was adamant it would come up at the next ordinary NEC meeting.
“Remember the conference wasn’t able to conclude all its business, so all of the things that are outstanding, including Phala Phala, have been deferred to the new NEC and an ordinary NEC meeting will sit on the weekend of January 16,” said the NEC member.
“Even though people were angry, on the virtual platform we could not raise it because it wasn’t included on the agenda items. It wasn’t included because it was always their strategy to have it away from the public eye, so it’s fine we will deal with it at the NEC.
“That thing is serious reputational damage and an image crisis for us because you can’t have a person who occupies the highest office in the land facing such allegations, which show he’s a hustler. It’s a serious hot potato — they are scared to discuss it.”
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