The ANC’s infighting is set to play out in court this week as the party’s suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule’s application to challenge his suspension is due to be heard on Tuesday.
Magashule has taken the ANC to court challenging its decision to suspend him for failing to voluntarily step aside after corruption charges were levelled against him. He also alleges that the so-called step-aside rule was trumped up to deal specifically with him.
He argued in court papers filed earlier in May that his suspension was also aimed at removing him to create a clear path for party president Cyril Ramaphosa to get a second term.
Responding in court papers on behalf of the party, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte dismissed his claims, stating that there were several other ANC leaders who had been affected by the rule.
The infighting threatens to cripple the governing party ahead of the local government elections and to disrupt the government’s response to the Covid-induced economic crisis, as well as the vaccination programme, which has been slow. This comes as a third Covid wave looms and government considers introducing stricter restrictions to contain the spread of the virus, which may further disrupt economic activity.
The scandal involving a R150m contract awarded to an obscure communications company run by health minister Zweli Mkhize’s former staff members will also continue to dominate headlines this week amid calls for the minister to step down. An investigation by tax, assurance and advisory firm Ngubane found that the contract was irregularly awarded and contravened the Public Finance Management Act. The health department awarded the contract to Digital Vibes in 2019 for work on National Health Insurance and then extended it to include work on the pandemic in 2020. Key players in Digital Vibes were Mkhize’s former personal assistant, Tahera Mather, and his former secretary, Naadhira Mitha.
An investigation into the contract by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), launched in February, is still under way. Last week, Mkhize said he fully supports the SIU investigation and there is no need for him to step aside while it conducts its work.
The Daily Maverick reported at the weekend that Digital Vibes settled invoices for maintenance work at a property owned by Mkhize’s family trust. Digital Vibes also transferred at least R300,000 to a company owned by Mkhize’s son, the publication reported.
On Tuesday, parliament’s presiding officers, National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo, will present the legislature’s budget vote.
Ramaphosa is scheduled to present the budget vote for the presidency in the National Assembly on Wednesday, while the debate is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the standing committee on finance will hold public hearings on the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. The bill is aimed at anchoring fiscal policy and is one of a suite of bills the DA is proposing to fence in and better control the way the government exercises fiscal discipline, and to set boundaries and limits on its expenditure. The standing committee on public accounts will be briefed by the National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on allegations of maladministration, mismanagement and corruption at the entity.
Also on Tuesday, the portfolio committee on tourism will be briefed by Banking Association SA, an industry representative body, on its perspective on support provided by the banking sector to the tourism industry, especially small, micro and medium enterprises.
Meanwhile, on Monday tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane will host a media briefing to provide an update on the R1.2bn tourism equity fund. In April, the high court in Pretoria interdicted the government from processing applications and making any payments from the fund because it makes race a qualification requirement.
Lobby groups Solidarity and AfriForum approached the court arguing that the fund, set up in January, is discriminatory because it targets majority black-owned businesses, disqualifying companies, many of which are small players without a large investor base, from accessing funding to help deal with the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak.
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