ANC integrity commission faces backlash over allegations of factional targeting in Limpopo

As the ANC prepares for a pivotal provincial conference in Limpopo, tensions are rising over what some members describe as a targeted campaign by the party’s integrity commission to “purge” political rivals using corruption allegations related to the collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.

Senior ANC figures in Limpopo and in the national executive committee (NEC) told the Mail & Guardian that the commission’s recent scrutiny of Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba’s cabinet appointments was less about upholding ethics and more about factional manoeuvring — because it appeared to be applying different standards on those previously implicated in wrongdoing.

At the heart of the dispute is the re-emergence of allegations involving Florence Radzilani, the ANC’s Limpopo deputy chairperson and social development MEC, and Kgabo Mahoai, the province’s finance MEC.

The commission presented a report to the party’s NEC over the weekend after its interview with Ramathuba about some of the “questionable” people she has elected to serve in her cabinet. These include Radzilani and Mahoai. The commission presented the report verbally, fearing it would otherwise be leaked to the media. 

Sources told the M&G that in its interview with Ramathuba, the integrity commission questioned why she had appointed Radzilani and Mahoai.

Radzilani is accused of having had R300 000 illegally channelled to her in return  for investing in VBS during her tenure as the Vhembe district municipality mayor.

In a leaked affidavit, former VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi, who has turned state witness, said Radzilani demanded a further payment of R1.5 million as “Christmas money” in December 2017 because the R300 000 was not enough.

In 2021, while he was director general of the department of international relations and cooperation, Mahoai was found guilty of gross negligence, gross derelicting of duty and of irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure relating to the signing off of R118 million for land in New York.  

He was fired soon thereafter. The M&G understands that Mahoai took the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the labour court, where he was successful. 

ANC members in Limpopo have questioned why the integrity commission did not interview Ramathuba about ANC provincial treasurer and MEC for agriculture Nakedi Kekana, who was also implicated in the VBS saga. Kekana allegedly illegally invested R150 million in VBS while she was the mayor of Lepelle Nkumpi and was compelled to relinquish her position in terms of the ANC’s step-aside rule.

“What the integrity commission told us is that Phophi said there were a lot of pressures for … premiers to appoint certain individuals. She said she was under pressure to appoint them but did not say where the pressure came from,” one NEC source who requested anonymity said.

“They were saying Radzilani’s appointment must be revoked because of her involvement in VBS. The problem is that it can only be revoked if she is charged by the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA].”

The source said there were five other people in the Limpopo legislature — previously councillors or mayors — who had also been implicated in corruption, but not charged by the NPA. 

The source said the commission should have approached Radzilani and “everyone with a cloud hanging over them” because their remaining in government positions was bringing the ANC into disrepute.

“We need to look at our constitution and maybe change it, because if a person has not been criminally charged, it is very difficult for the ANC to suspend that person. Currently it is very difficult to charge Thembi Simelani because she has not been criminally charged. The same goes for Cedric Florick,” they said.

“It is up to individuals to say, ‘If there’s a stain on my integrity, I must step down to save the ANC’. But these people are not like that because they have more to lose and they don’t care about society, they just care about themselves.” 

Another NEC source said Radzilani was viewed as a threat by those who wanted to stand for positions at the provincial conference, but did not have support. There had been attempts to remove Radzilani over VBS, using the step-aside process, but this had been rejected in the national executive committee, the source added.

“The current people do not have the ground that she has and they are not willing to go openly to say we will contest her, they want her to be removed by the process of VBS so she can step aside.”

The source said there was an NEC resolution that Radzilani should be “brought back from  step aside”, but the secretary general’s office had not communicated this to the integrity commission. 

The source said the integrity commission had expressed surprise that Radzilani had been appointed to her position despite its recommendation to sanction her. The commission said it had only learnt afterwards that the NEC had rejected the recommendation.

According to the source, the NEC at the time said the commission should deal with all the issues and not just some individuals, to avoid the appearance of bias.

At the last NEC meeting, it was recommended that the ANC’s systems be revamped to include the stipulation that people nominated to serve in government should have integrity. 

The source said premier Ramathuba’s argument was that she had chosen her team from the names she had been given. 

“You can’t then say afterwards that they must go and find (other) people. Phophi argues that these are the people she had and there was no way she could have picked from anywhere else except the group she had been given.”

An insider in Ramathuba’s circle said she had been given a list of 38 members of the legislature and that the 10 in her cabinet were the best she could choose from that list.

“She told them that she was forced by circumstances. If they want us to appoint certain people, then they should change the system of lists,” the insider said.

“The integrity committee should then come with the comrades that they want. The ones that she has are the best and are the ones that she has to work with and defend. She was not forced to appoint anybody and if she did not want to appoint them, she would have not appointed them.” 

The insider added that none of the people in the Limpopo cabinet have been criminally charged and it would be unfair to use “public perception” as justification for removing them.

“Florence ( Radzilani) was once on step-aside, she came back and she is not under step-aside. People who are involved in VBS are on step-aside and have been charged. What this integrity commission is doing is to bring factional battles into the ANC,” the source said.

The source said Ramathuba was also surprised that the integrity committee had called her to account over Radzilani and Mahoai, but did not question her about Nakedi. 

“So we are asking ourselves what is the formula used to select the MECs she must account for? The cases of Florence and Nakedi are the same, they both deposited money in VBS, they were both recalled as mayors, they both went to conference; one was elected deputy chair and the other treasurer,” the source said.

“[Former Limpopo premier Stanley] Mathabatha reappointed Florence and Nakedi as MECs and when the current premier came in, for continuity, she brought the two of them. These are senior ANC leaders. This story is just a factional thing.”

The insider said the premier did not need additional headaches, given the “challenges” faced by the province.

“The people in the province are losing jobs in mines and (face) water challenges. Comrade Mahoai has won his case and the money has been returned. Radzilani stepped aside and she returned. These people in the NEC want to cause division and infighting for the premier in a province that is (politically) stable.” 

Responding to queries sent by the M&G, Ramathuba defended choosing the three MECs,  insisting that they were the best candidates for their posts.

“I am not the spokesperson of the ANC, I was invited by the integrity commission and I spoke to them under oath and what I have spoken to them about is between me and them. If you want what was discussed, contact the ANC spokesperson or the secretary general,” she added.

At a media briefing this week, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula confirmed that the integrity commission report discussed Limpopo, adding that the NEC had taken a decision on the matter and would inform the integrity commission about it.

Mbalula said there were three recommendations, not about individuals per se, but about how the ANC could improve on matters that might affect its integrity in handling certain individuals in Limpopo. 

“VBS is closed. We went to an NEC meeting, we discussed VBS, I convened a press conference, and I briefed you that the NEC has resolved everyone that is involved and they are charged, they must step aside and that has happened,” he told journalists.

“Florence was not arrested, she was put on a step-aside for the longest of time. The NEC resolved but did not communicate with the integrity commission about its resolution that Florence must come back.”

Mbalula said if the state did not have a criminal case against people, the ANC could not arrest them, adding: “We are not harbouring suspects and if anyone has to be arrested, they will face the law.”