ANC's Gigaba, Mahlobo, Kodwa, and Frolick recommended for ...

The ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on Thursday evening received a report from their officials which said Malusi Gigaba, David Mahlobo, Zizi Kodwa, and Cedric Frolick are ineligible to stand to be members of the National Assembly.

The report was compiled by the party’s top 7 following a dossier they received from the party’s Integrity Committee led by Frank Chikane, regarding those who have been implicated in State Capture.

Daily Maverick understands that these members are said to have adverse findings against their conduct by the State Capture inquiry. In particular, Mahlobo, who is the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation along with Gigaba — an NEC member, did not appear before the party’s Integrity Committee and therefore has not been cleared at this point.

The discussion went on into the early hours of Friday morning.

Other implicated party members were not the subject of discussion, in all likelihood because they are not on the party’s list for these elections.

On Friday night a list purporting to be the party’s parliamentary list handed to the IEC saw Gigaba, Mahlobo and Kodwa making the list but this was later marked as fake.

Political parties had until 5pm on Friday to submit their lists to the IEC. These are yet to be made public by the commission.

Kodwa was implicated in State Capture for dubious transactions between himself and Jehan Mackay, a former director at technology group EOH.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Zizi Kodwa’s deputy minister job ‘untenable’ while beholden to corruption-accused

The report points to a beneficial relationship involving personal loans made to him by Mackay and an apparent attempt to buy his influence in the awarding of tenders.

Mahlobo was accused of bribing judges during his tenure as State Security Minister.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Investigate Arthur Fraser, David Mahlobo and Thulani Dlomo – State Capture Commission

Frolick was implicated in Part 3 of Zondo’s report. He was accused of having dodgy dealings with Bosasa.

He is said to have played a critical role in “winning over Mr Vincent Smith, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services and Justice” for Bosasa’s benefit. In 2020, Smith was criminally charged in relation to corruption allegations related to Bosasa.

He was one of four MPs who were later cleared by the  Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests.

Zondo’s report recommended that Gigaba be investigated for corruption and racketeering in relation to cash payments allegedly received by them during visits to the Gupta compound in Saxonwold in the period 2010-2018.

Gigaba is said to have had a close relationship with the Guptas or was a “willing participant” in their state-capturing schemes during his tenure as Public Enterprises Minister.

Who is in the clear?

The report clears ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe, along with senior members Thabang Makwetla and Zweli Mkhize following their appearances before the party integrity committee.

Mantashe and Makwetla were both cleared of allegations that they enjoyed security upgrades from Bosasa.

Mkhize has been cleared for his involvement in the multi-million Digital Vibes scandal which prompted him to step aside from his then-position as Health Minister.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Lest We Forget: Digital Vibes, two years on — Zweli Mkhize & Co still free, probe ‘ongoing’

Ramaphosa appeared before the Integrity Committee after being suspected of wrongdoing regarding a $580,000 theft which took place at his Phala Phala in 2020. He has also been cleared.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Ramaphosa’s Farmgate scandal – a timeline of what we know (and don’t know) so far

Others who are out of the red include the governing party’s deputy president Paul Mashtaile, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane, ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina, Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane and Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, have been cleared for matters outside of the State Capture report.

Bone of contention

Sources in the party’s NEC told Daily Maverick that there was a row over the exclusion of the four senior members, with the majority raising concerns about the consequences of this move.

On the one hand, there was a strong sense that it would be unfair to exclude them from the list if they had not been formally charged and would contradict the ANC’s existing step-aside guidelines.

The party’s step-aside guidelines mention that those who have been charged in a court of law should not be allowed to be deployed to public office or engage in any ANC programmes.

The electoral committee document makes no mention of sanctions for those accused of being involved in State Capture.

To qualify for nomination, all candidates must meet the following criteria: “Have no criminal record or criminal charges brought by the NPA (this excludes political-related crimes committed before April 1994).

“Private prosecutions are excluded unless these result in criminal convictions by a court of law … No candidate shall be eligible for nomination if he/she has been found guilty by a Disciplinary Committee for contravening the ANC Code of Conduct, and had their membership suspended for any period in the last 10 years. This rule applies also where a member is awaiting the outcome of a disciplinary hearing or an appeal.”

However, there were also talks about whether submitting members fingered in the Zondo Report would result in harsh criticism from the public and subsequently lead to the weakening of their election campaign.

This year’s election has been dubbed to be as important as the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 and pundits have predicted that the ANC might for the first time drop below 50%.

Some members believe that excluding the four senior members would lead to divisions within the NEC and ANC and discourage those who have been flagged from campaigning for the organisation.

NEC members identified that processes were flouted in arriving at the final four who have been disqualified from the national list.

There were complaints about the collective having not seen a bulk of the Integrity Committee reports referred to in the top 7 feedback, making it hard to have discussions on the future of those involved.

That is why the overwhelming view was that they not remove the names until they have properly dealt with the matter, to avoid facing legal action.

However, the national officials of the party will have the final say.

The party held its list conference on Monday, where NEC members and alliance partners, the Congress of South African Trade Unions as well as the SA Communist Party, consolidated their candidates.

The list was adopted by the party’s highest decision-making body and then had to be finalised by the top 7 ahead of the submission deadline of 8 March. The IEC has set a 5pm deadline for parties to submit their lists. DM

Update: During a briefing on Friday afternoon, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu- Motsiri confirmed that there are four members who have been flagged. She declined to elaborate on the matter but mentioned the party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula would hold a briefing alongside Electoral Committee chair Kgalema Motlanthe on Monday to reveal further details.