Probation, screening for new ANC members
2011-09-07 22:55
Johannesburg - Those wishing to become members of the ANC would have to undergo an eight-week probation and screening to ensure criminals are not recruited.
"We are not just recruiting anyone. We don't want people who bring violence and who burn our flags," the party's Gauteng secretary David Makhura told reporters on Wednesday.
"We are not chasing numbers but the quality of members."
This was despite its centenary campaign of securing a membership of one million.
The celebration starts on January 8 next year, with a large number of the party's international friends and allies expected to attend.
Makhura said it had been recruiting on a week-by-week basis but was "very careful" on its selection of people.
The ANC in Gauteng had recruited 110 000 new members of its 300 000 target for 2012.
Last Tuesday, hundreds of ANC Youth League members and supporters thronged Johannesburg's city centre, hurling rocks and broken bricks at police and journalists.
Rioters burnt ANC flags and pictures bearing the image of President Jacob Zuma. Several people, including a policeman, were injured.
This happened during a disciplinary hearing against ANCYL leader Julius Malema on charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing divisions within its ranks.
Charged with him were league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu, deputy president Ronald Lamola, treasurer general Pule Mabe, secretary general Sindiso Magaqa and deputy secretary general Kenetswe Masenogi.
Zuma recently said the centenary programme was one of the most critical ANC campaigns ever run.
As the countdown continued, he noted that the party should be "more serious about protecting and projecting our image".
"... We must show to all that we are the oldest liberation movement in Africa, and therefore our conduct and behaviour must reflect the maturity of our organisation.
"When we celebrate 100 years, we must ensure that we inculcate and instil the best values of our movement which have sustained us for such a long period," he said.
Part of the tradition included showing people the unity of the ANC, and that of its alliance partners.
- SAPA
