ANC candidates with criminal records will not qualify to serve, says Kubayi

ANC NEC member Mmamoloko Kubayi says the party's candidate selection criteria exclude individuals with criminal records and require minimum qualifications for those seeking to represent it in municipalities.

ANC National Executive Committee member and convenor Mmamoloko Kubayi says the party's candidate selection criteria will exclude individuals with criminal records and require minimum qualifications for those seeking to represent it in municipalities.

Kubayi was speaking on the sidelines of the ANC's rally in the Eastern Cape following the Constitutional Court ruling that paved the way for 181 of the party's candidates to be included in the November 4 local government elections.

The ruling concerned ANC candidates whose nominations had initially been excluded from the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) lists after the party failed to complete the final submission process on its online nomination system.

The Constitutional Court directed the IEC to take the necessary steps to include the affected candidates in the electoral process.

Kubayi said the party's candidate selection requirements were important in ensuring that those entrusted with representing communities met certain standards, particularly at a time when South Africa was dealing with high levels of crime and violence.

“The fact that we have put criteria, issues such as criminal records, that you can't serve the ANC when you have a criminal record because we are dealing with issues of violent crime in this country. We are dealing with high levels of criminal activities,” she said.

The ANC's position on criminal records was an important message to communities, she said, arguing that those selected to represent the party should not be people who cause harm to South Africans.

'“For the ANC to come out and say each candidate will not be people that are causing harm to the people of South Africa, it’s a very good message,” Kubayi said.

Kubayi also highlighted the party's minimum qualification requirements for people seeking to represent the ANC, saying these were necessary to ensure that the complexities of municipal governance were not undermined.

Municipalities required people with the necessary capacity to address the challenges facing communities and ensure that local government could respond to their needs.

“The second one around qualification. That there must be minimum requirements for people who represent the ANC. So that the complexities of municipalities are not undermined,” she said.

Kubayi said the requirements were intended to ensure that the capacity needed by municipalities to solve people's problems was not compromised.

She added that South Africans should have confidence that candidates who emerged from the ANC's selection process had been assessed against the party's requirements and were capable of responding to the challenges facing communities.

“And I do think those as well are qualities that South Africans must feel comfortable that whoever emerges is a person that the ANC would have actually made sure that they meet the requirements and they are able to respond to their challenges,” Kubayi said.