Criminally charged leaders, who have been made to step aside from their positions by the ANC, will be barred from contesting any leadership positions in the party.

The ANC’s national executive committee has resolved that its guidelines governing the step-aside rule should be amended to explicitly state that leaders facing criminal charges cannot be allowed to be elected into office. It’s a major victory for the party’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and his allies, who have been pushing for organisational renewal, particularly the cleaning up of the corruption-tainted image of the ANC.