The recent evidence at the Zondo Commission about the behaviour and conduct of the ANC’s elected representatives in the National Assembly has shown how they put the party above the country, and would do it again. Instead of promising to change course or to fight corruption, the party’s Deputy Secretary-General, Jessie Duarte, has attacked the commission itself, claiming the testimony there is an “onslaught on the people”.
It is obvious from Duarte’s first published response to the recent testimony that she believes ANC MPs were right to put party before country. She also says she will testify at the commission and that “inconvenient witnesses” are disappearing. But perhaps the most important element of her response is the complicated debate around how parties in a proportional representation system should remain as a coherent political force.