ANC election commission secretary Matsila urges members not to elect ‘faces with the same problems’
As the ANC prepares to hold its regional conferences and with its renewal process in motion, electoral commission secretary Chief Livhuwani Matsila has implored party members not to elect the “same faces with the same problems”.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Matsila said the renewal of the party must start with electing leaders who will give confidence to supporters that the ANC — which lost its majority for the first time in last May’s general elections — has the ability to recover and rebuild itself.
Matsila warned that ANC members cannot elect the same people who have made mistakes to key positions, and still imagine that they can renew the ANC.
“My worry as an ANC member and a traditional leader is that we must make sure that we have credible people to lead the ANC and to lead society and to run clean government,” he said.
“The ANC has a lot of qualified people with capacity within its membership, we just need to make sure that some of those should lead the ANC.
“The same faces with the same problems or more will not restore confidence in the ANC’s capacity to lead the nation in my view. This is my personal view, it is not the position of the electoral committee.”
After years of talk about renewal, the ANC has finally put the wheels in motion for an era of accountability, but this may see the party suffer membership losses as a result of tighter discipline and higher ethical standards.
Last November, the national executive committee (NEC) amended the terms of reference of the integrity commission, which is tasked with dealing with ethical and political complaints against members and serves as an advisory body to the committee on matters affecting the ANC’s public image and reputation.
An NEC source said the commission now has powers to recommend action against people found wanting.
The party also introduced a compulsory foundation course for all its members to improve the quality of its cadres through political education. Members of the NEC and its provincial and regional leaders will be the first to undergo the five-module programme on the history, ethics and vision of the ANC.
Some party members are concerned that the new measures could see the ANC decline even further.
With the new regulations and measures in place, Matsila said he did not anticipate there would be teething problems when the regional conferences sit for their conferences.
“The processes are run by the provincial secretaries together with the secretary general’s office so obviously rules that are adopted by the NEC in terms of the elections of the ANC generally apply in that sense. The electoral committee is not really involved in those elections,” he said.
“Generally I think the regional and provincial conferences are actually smoothly run, the criteria are usually applied, but obviously there are tight competitions for leadership positions and that is normal in a political organisation.”
The ANC does not have a rule to bar anyone who doesn’t have post-matric qualification from standing for a leadership position, but the party now wants to select mayors from a pool of three candidates, all of whom must have tertiary education.
Matsila said the ANC’s constitution does not specify qualifications people should have to be elected to leadership roles; it was up to the members to choose those they thought would serve them better in the party and in government.
He said leaders elected in conferences follow rules in the party’s constitution and those in government, qualifications and experience are normally applied.
“I think the ANC membership in general is now conscious as to the standards in terms of qualities of those who should be elected into positions,” he said.
“I think it is a result of the NEC’s work of having the electoral committee adopt the rules and making sure that the rules are known now. People know the rules unlike in the past when rules were not there, because anything goes if there are no rules.”