This weekend saw another embarrassing etching on the gravestone of the ANC’s moral compass.
In Mpumalanga, Mandla Msibi was voted in as treasurer-general of the ANC’s top provincial structure by delegates, even though he’d been charged with murder for the 2021 shooting of Dingane Ngwenya and Sipho Lubisi.
President Cyril Ramaphosa asked ANC members to “reflect” on Msibi’s election, given the principle that those accused of serious crimes must “step aside” — and Msibi duly did so days later.
But as commendably quick as this was, this isn’t the party’s only looming reckoning. ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini has been convicted of perjury, yet remains in her position, and corruption accused Zandile Gumede is vying for leadership of the ANC’s eThekwini region (though she says she’ll step aside if elected).
Why is the party allowing compromised candidates to campaign in the first place? At best, it smacks of a reluctance to confront ethical violations; at worst, the party no longer knows how to assess this.