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The ANC is set to send two delegations, one led by former secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, to appear before the state capture commission and “set the record straight” on the allegations that have been levelled against the ruling party by witnesses who have given testimony before the commission.
ANC national executive committee member and head of presidency Zizi Kodwa confirmed this undertaking by the ruling party during Tuesday’s proceedings of the state capture inquiry in Parktown, Johannesburg.
“This week the ANC has submitted a letter to the commission making it clear that we are reserving our right of reply. Firstly, to the version of the banks in terms of what they indicated about the meetings they held with ANC.
“We also intend to challenge some aspects of the version of comrade Barbara’s [Hogan] testimony, particularly what she said about the workings of the ANC, the deployment committee and some of the calls that she said she received from the secretary-general of the ANC,” said Kodwa.
Contrary to former public enterprise minister Barbara Hogan’s testimony before the commission, Kodwa said the point the ANC would like to make was that the national working committee or the ANC did not discuss individuals’ deployment.
“The deployment committee as a subcommittee of the ANC does not appoint, it merely recommends and it is only ministers or those authorities responsible who can appoint,” Kodwa emphasised.
He revealed that the ANC would be sending “two delegations, the first led by former secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to give submissions on behalf of the party, submissions intended on challenging the version of events previously given by other witnesses”.
“Later on, time permitting, the president will also lead a delegation [before the commission] to sum up the ANC’s role as a ruling party mandated by South Africans, what we knew, what we did not know and what we did, as well as the lessons we have learnt going forward,” said Kodwa.
Kodwa sat through Hogan’s second day of testimony before the commission of inquiry and encouraged individuals with more information to come forward and inform the commission.
He said the fact that the ANC’s submissions challenged some versions from other witnesses should not deter other witnesses from coming forward as this was merely the party’s constitutional right to represent itself.
Kodwa’s sentiments came after Hogan’s testimony on Monday, which revealed that former president Jacob Zuma and other party officials tried to influence the appointment of board members and directors within state-owned enterprises.
Continuing with her testimony on Tuesday, Hogan implicated Zuma and Mantashe even more, revealing that the former president and secretary-general also meddled in the Eskom board’s handling of former chief executive Jacob Maroga’s alleged resignation.
Hogan told the commission that Zuma interfered with the board’s acceptance of Maroga’s resignation letter and demanded that Hogan and the board reinstate Maroga.
“I then met with the president [Zuma] on November 8 2009 and he proposed that he would confirm Maroga as still being the chief executive regardless of the fact that the board had already accepted his resignation. He [Zuma] then suggested that Maroga and the board should write their version of events, submit them and then a solution should be found,” said Hogan.
She said that the reinstatement gave Maroga the impression that he was untouchable and, going forward, he would only answer to Zuma.
“It was clear that the president had encouraged a CEO [Maroga] to believe that he was above the directive of the board, the minister and only had to report to the president,” said Hogan.
According to Hogan, a labour lawyer, Yunis Shaik, was brought in to adjudicate the matter and his view was that the president had violated the rules of corporate governance.
Hogan said that the Maroga impasse caused a lot of damage at Eskom because board members, including Bobby Godsell, the former board chairperson, eventually resigned during the debacle.
