Step-Aside Rule won’t solve the country’s socio-economic challenges: Concerning is that state institutions such as Special Investigative Unit (SIU), National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are open to abuse for factional purposes.
20 October 2022
Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme House : We do not believe that the Step Aside Rule will ever be an instrument to solve socio-economic challenges we are facing as the country.
The masses of our people are running out of patience as they live in abject poverty. The young and old – the urban and rural based communities are longing for improved quality of life.
They cannot wait any longer.
Therefore as ANC in KZN and Limpopo provinces we have agreed that ANC leaders, who are elected into positions of authority and deployed in all spheres of government, must spend their time finding solutions that will help us usher in a new era of prosperity.
We have also agreed that the Step Aside Rule is weakening the ANC and defocusing all of us from ensuring that our organization remains a vehicle for socio-economic transformation.
We have resolved that both ANC KZN and ANC Limpopo leaders will collectively engage delegates attending the national conference to push for the total scrapping of the Step Aside Rule. Alternatively, the Step Aside Rule must be strengthened in order to ensure that it is applied consistently.
Concerning is that state institutions such as Special Investigative Unit (SIU), National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and many more others, are vulnerable to abuse and to be used for factional and ulterior motives. Such state institutions may even be manipulated by ANC members who are in control of state power for their own personal and narrow interests. Even those who are not in control of the state or within the ANC are likely to use the Step Aside Rule to advance their hidden agendas which ultimately weakens the ANC and leaders are pit against society.
We are worried that the skewed and inconsistent implementation of the step aside resolution has divided the ANC and the alliance. There are leaders that are selectively targeted for charges with court cases getting prolonged under the pretext of investigations.
An example is Comrade Zandile Gumede, eThekwini Regional Chair.
Some comrades are charged ahead of conferences with an intention of barring them from contesting.
On the other side, there are comrades who have been prejudiced and had to walk around with dark clouds hanging over their heads – only to be found not guilty by the court of law.
We can cite ANC Mpumalanga Treasurer Cde Mandla Msibi after murder charges against him were provisionally withdrawn.
Importantly, the implementation of the Step Aside Rule is in conflict with the ANC’s Constitution and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
We are systematically vandalizing a well-established and fundamental principle of our law of the presumption of innocence.
