• ANC Integrity Committee chairperson George Mashamba says it will not change or review its findings against Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo unless the ANC's NEC calls for it.
• Mashamba also dismissed claims the findings are linked to ambitions to play a greater role in the OR Tambo political school.
• He says party members who have an issue with its recommendations know where to go.

ANC Integrity Committee chairperson George Mashamba says the committee will only review its findings against Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo if instructed to do so by the ANC's national executive committee (NEC).

Last week, it emerged Mashamba had written to Masondo asking him to voluntarily step down from both his role in the government and as the principal of the ANC's political school.

This after Masondo appeared before the committee following claims he had used his influence and state resources to settle a personal score with a former mistress.

He was accused of setting the Hawks on the 30-year-old woman after allegedly bullying her into having an abortion.

It is understood Masondo was hoping the committee would review its decision after receiving his response, but Mashamba said it did not work that way. 

"The NEC does that, we don't do that. It all depends on what the NEC decides, if it says we must review the matter then so be it, we don't just do so on our own," Mashamba told News24.

Disrepute

In the letter to Masondo, he said he had brought the former liberation movement into disrepute and that acknowledging and taking responsibility showed great commitment to it.

"You are not an ordinary member of the public. You are a senior leader of the ANC and a deputy minister. You should have known that the mandate of the Hawks is to investigate corruption and offences that fall under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

"The demands that [the woman] placed on you for money, while inconvenient to you, did not fall within the description of extortion under the act or within the mandate of the Hawks," Mashamba wrote.

The committee's recommendations have not been largely welcomed, with some in the ANC's NEC, which is its highest decision-making body, claiming they were unfair and should be rejected.

Masondo's own response to the committee was also made public, asking for further guidance in the matter.

The deputy minister acknowledged he had reported the matter to a "wrong section" of the police, explaining the difficulty in reaching the decision to approach the Hawks, which he said was on the advice of his lawyer.

He also addressed concerns about his decision to approach the Commission on Gender Equality, of which Masondo said was unfortunately viewed as "paternalistic", as that was not his intention.

"As I said in my submissions, in addition to approaching the Integrity Committee, I approached the Young Communist League, in my capacity as its former chairperson, the ANC Women's League and the OR Tambo school's social and ethics board committee as the principal to explain myself and seek counsel," he added.

The NEC heard over the weekend the party's top six would first process the committee report. 

A decision whether or not he should serve as deputy minister lies with the president. 

Battles with comrades 

Mashamba, who is usually skimp with details on how the committee does its work, said the Masondo report took so long because it was being dealt with alongside many other issues.

He was surprised at news of its decisions regarding Deputy President David Mabuza not passing their measures for integrity. It was previously believed to have been cleared by the group of elders.

READ MORE | David Mabuza was not cleared by ANC Integrity Committee

Mashaba also refuted claims this was a politically motivated move or linked to elders in the ANC's desire to oversee its political school or at least dictate what should be its focus.

"The commission is 11 or 12 people. Comrades who have issues with the commission can raise it in the organisation. I can't do battles with comrades outside the framework of the organisation. If they raise them in the ANC, I will then go and account," he told News24.

"If I got such views I know where to go raise them," added Mashamba to questions around the party's political education programme.

Mashamba emphasised that if party members had issues with the committee they knew where to take those complaints, insisting they were merely doing what had been set out for them to do by the ANC.

"We don't take decisions as a committee, we make recommendations and the NEC sometimes take our decisions and sometimes if doesn't," he said.