ANC Admits Party Racked By Bribery, Vote Buying

THE African National Congress (ANC) has admitted that bribery and vote buying are widespread in its branches and threaten to subvert its internal democracy.

In discussion papers released ahead of its national general council meeting in Durban next month, the party said money increasingly influenced the outcome of elections in the party. It raised the question of whether members with money had more influence than the rest of the membership. It also warned of the increasing use of violence and of meetings and conferences being disrupted by disgruntled members.

Since its conference in Polokwane in 2007, money in the competition for party positions had grown in influence. People were even being paid to disrupt meetings, it said . Outright bribery, the provision of cellphone starter packs and free travel were some of the incentives used to buy votes. The party proposed an integrity committee to probe allegations of improper conduct. This would help to "prevent misdemeanours" and protect "genuine black business people and entrepreneurs who have links with the ANC from getting a bad name".

The ANC already has guidelines on lobbying for internal elections, but bribery and vote buying have persisted. It is concerned that funding for the party could be used to influence leadership and policies and affect its integrity. Judith February, a political analyst at democracy watchdog Idasa, said the ANC had repeatedly shown an unwillingness to regulate the funding of political parties through legislation. "We are not sure that the ANC is committed to this ... all they have done is stonewall. "

Although the ANC has never fully disclosed its funders, it said the issue needed to be debated. "Our approach towards party financing will therefore have to be broader, so that it also deals with the 'informal' party financing, which is so much more insidious and dangerous to internal democracy," it said.

The ANC has been linked to questionable funding sources, including kickbacks from the more than R30bn arms deal and a R38,5bn subcontract linked to its investment vehicle, Chancellor House, for the supply of boilers to Eskom.

Results of a study by TNS Research Surveys released on Tuesday showed that the majority of South Africans felt the ANC should not be allowed to be connected to any companies that received government tenders.

Source: All Africa