I have written today to the Acting Secretary General of the ANC, Ms Jessie Duarte, to ask for the ANC’s protocol on private citizens attending the party’s NEC meetings. If senior state officials, like National Treasury DG Dondo Mogajane, can attend these meetings in their “private capacity”, then presumably the meetings are open to others in their “private capacities” too.
In that regard, I would be delighted to attend the next NEC meeting in my private capacity, to make some remarks on the topic of “economic policy”.
In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, confirmed that Director General Mogajane attended the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ANC on 23 and 24 January 2021.
My letter, and the parliamentary reply, are available here and here.
I note the Minister’s claim that the DG attended in his “private capacity”. The Minister has resorted to this formulation because, I believe, he knows that it is not appropriate for senior civil servants, who are subject to the Public Service Act, to attend the NEC meeting of the ANC.
I do not for one minute believe that the DG attended as a private citizen. He would not be invited or allowed to attend did he not hold the position in government that he does.
I will be submitting a separate application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, to obtain minutes, notes or recordings of anything Mr Mogajane said at the meeting. As he is a public official, this is a matter of public interest.
I look forward to hearing back from the ANC about this. Since I too would be attending in my “private capacity”, I presume they will have no objection to me attending the next meeting.
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