The ANC wants the government to deploy more resources to the security cluster and also establish a dedicated unit to fight illegal mining in the country.
Addressing the media after the meeting of the national working committee (NWC), national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the NWC noted the recent instability involving bold and aggressive criminality.
“There is a need to increase law enforcement presence and strengthen crime prevention strategies, including enhancing crime intelligence to prevent violent crimes.
“The government must establish a dedicated national security unit to combat illegal mining, which is threatening revenue and the lives of our people,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
She also said the NWC urged the government to stop criminal activities such as arson against trucks, which amounted to economic sabotage.
Bhengu-Motsiri also said President Cyril Ramaphosa had underlined the significance of providing sufficient resources to the security cluster, particularly the SANDF and SAPS to combat crime and to deal with natural disasters.
She said the NWC commended the Asset Forfeiture Unit’s ongoing work to combat corruption, as R10.2 billion in cash and assets were frozen and R2.83bn was recovered over past four years, while R2.55bn was reclaimed from the proceeds of crime.
“The narrative that we are not recovering anything lost in the corruption uncovered by the state capture investigation begins to put some of those assertions to rest,” she said.
Bhengu-Motsiri also said the convening of elective conferences by all three leagues was a significant aspect of the ongoing renewal of the ANC.
“With the upcoming national general elections in 2024 the ANC is now focused on consolidating our branches, our regions and all our structures to focus on a decisive win.”
Bhengu-Motsiri told the media that the NWC policy position on coalitions was advancing the principle that a party with the highest number of votes should form the government, whether it was the ANC or any other so that service delivery was not hampered by endless political posturing.
“Respect for majority rule is what has been emphasised by the NWC. It also emphasised that another principle governing coalitions must be shared moral values.
Those we go with to coalition must have ethical and moral standards we hold together.”
Bhengu-Motsiri said Deputy President Paul Mashatile would lead the process to consolidate the ANC’s stance on coalitions through his work in the government.
“We reiterate this is about hung municipalities, not the national general elections, because in as far as the national general elections go our aim as the ANC is to outright win those elections to advance and accelerate the national transformation agenda.”
The NWC resolved to review the 2019 election manifesto at Orlando stadium in Soweto in September. She also said the NWC had adopted the candidate selection process and criteria to be used to choose public representatives via a process to be led by the electoral committee under former president Kgalema Motlanthe.
“To qualify for nomination a candidate must satisfy a specific criteria, and the ANC has elevated how it selects and elects its representatives into the future,” she said.
She read a list of criteria to be used in choosing public representatives. ANC elections committee’s Chief Livhuwani Matsila said the process to nominate public representatives who would go to Parliament and legislatures in 2024 had started in earnest.
“It is now in full swing. We started to train branch secretaries and chairpersons as well as observers so that they know how to handle their work in relation to the rules,” Matsila said.
He also said the electoral committee was pleased that the rules had been adopted by the NWC following their recommendation.
“The main purpose of these rules is to make sure that we nominate candidates who have got capacity, skills and experience to go to Parliament and legislatures.
“It is essential and critical when we select those candidates we pass through the eye of the needle as the ANC, so that we scrunitise them and ensure they are fit for purpose,” Matsila said.
Cape Times
