Reverend Frank Chikane says the days of impunity for immoral and unethical conduct by ANC members are a thing of the past.
Chikane was speaking in Houghton on Tuesday as the new chairperson to the somewhat toothless ANC integrity commission.
He and other members of the commission were appointed in February following the ANC’s 54th National Conference in December 2022.
The ANC integrity commission has been heavily criticized before for serving factional interests. Furthermore, the body has come under the spotlight for fast-tracking some reports while it drags feet on others that implicate high-ranking ANC leaders.
As things stand, the previous commission whose term expired in December failed to complete its investigation on the raging Phala Phala saga involving ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Chikane told a media contingent that the new commission will be different and will expedite its work with speed, adding that the party’s national officials have committed to implement its decisions.
The structure can recommend that any ANC leader found on the wrong side of its moral values step down from their positions or be disciplined by the disciplinary committee.
Chikane said the integrity commission that he leads will have no holy cows.
“We have met the new ANC leadership and they have agreed that they support our work. So, when a matter is tabled, they will have to act on it, unlike in the olden days when some of the commission reports never saw the light of day,” said Chikane.
It was concerning that corruption levels in the country continue to spiral out of control, he charged.
What made matters worse was ANC leaders at all spheres of government who are using their positions for self-enrichment.
Corruption in the country had reached worrying levels that a complete takeover by criminal syndicates was now a real possibility, developments which call for the integrity commission that is beyond reproach on carrying out its work of cleansing the governing party of rogues that have swelled its ranks.
“We have to save this country. We cannot allow criminal syndicates to run us, and we need to make sure that criminals do not take over the country. If we do not stop them, we will end up with an Italian mafia in this country
“For now, criminals are running us in terms of Eskom for instance, we have darkness because criminals are holding us ransom,” he said.
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