2 September 2020

The SACP has welcomed the decisions from the special sitting of the ANC National Executive Committee taken under the theme: ‘Renewal of the ANC and the fight against corruption’. The meeting took place from 28 to 30 August 2020. The national officials of the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, announced the key outcomes of the meeting on 31 August 2020. The SACP wishes to emphasise decisive implementation, since some welcome decisions are not new.

The decision for those facing serious charges of corruption and criminality in a court of law to step aside was first adopted by the 53^rd National Conference of the ANC held in Mangaung, December 2012. The 54^th National Conference of the ANC, held five years later, December 2017, in Nasrec, Johannesburg, reaffirmed the correctness of the resolution. What we expect is decisive implementation at all levels - that is, at the national, provincial and local government levels.

The SACP also welcomes the special national executive committee meeting’s decision to strengthen the ANC’s integrity committee. This should reposition the integrity committee to contribute more decisively towards dismantling corruption.

The SACP strongly believes that the fight against corruption will move faster and stronger towards victory - if as a society we work together and wage the struggle on all fronts, in political formations, in non-governmental and community-based organisations, and throughout the state and the economy. As the SACP, we seek to forge a widest possible patriotic front in defence of our democracy, against corporate, corrupt, criminal and mafia capture of our state, and against other forms of wrongdoing. We convened a conference to intensify the fight against corruption as the national executive committee of the ANC started its special sitting on 28 August 2020.

Tripartite Alliance formations, Cosatu and the ANC, were represented. The virtual conference was also attended by numerous formations from within our broad movement and outside, including non-governmental organisations committed to ending corruption. There are important similarities between the declaration of the conference - endorsed by several formations - and some key decisions adopted by the ANC national executive committee on fighting corruption. This is an important premise to build, deepen and widen unity towards dismantling the networks of state capture and ending corruption in our state and economy.   

On the last day of the special sitting of the ANC national executive committee, 30 August 2020, the Jack Simons Party School hosted a seminar under the theme: ‘The struggle on two fronts: Against corruption, against austerity, and why they are linked’. Our immediate aim as the SACP towards dismantling the networks of corruption is to disrupt and to roll back the corrupt connection between private accumulation and public service. This is one reason we emphasise de-tenderisation of the state, and the necessity to build a capable democratic developmental state that will serve the people directly through its own internal capacity.

There are just so many functions and services at all levels of the state and in state entities which are tenderised, which should not be the case. All outsourced services must be reviewed, to implement in-sourcing and decent work - this is actually a long standing Alliance-supported ANC manifestos commitment. Where the state will have to engage in procurement - in so far as it is necessary - procurement processes must be watertight, giving no quarter to corruption. A review of the Public Finance Management Act and Municipal Finance Management Act is essential to place a premium on building capable democratic developmental state with its own capacity and intra-state procurement.   

The state must also place a premium on mass empowerment, including through co-operatives development and prioritisation of co-operatives and community empowerment. The state should build an enabling atmosphere for communities to play a direct role in the production and delivery of public goods and services, including but not limited to infrastructure development and maintenance.