ANC Graft Threatens S.Africa Rule Of Law

Fraud and corruption in South Africa's ruling ANC could compromise the rule of law in the country, a leading think tank said, as a new graft scandal put the party under a spotlight ahead of an election.

In the latest corruption case to hit the party, its official spokesman Carl Niehaus told radio stations he forged letters in a former government job and racked up hundreds of thousands of rand in debts to fund a lavish lifestyle.

He said ANC leaders were aware of his financial dealings when he was appointed party spokesman in November and were helping him work out a plan to repay his debts. The party said it would give him another position.

The revelations come just over two months before a general election, in which the ANC faces an unprecedented challenge from a new breakaway party that is appealing to voters uneasy with perceived corruption within the ruling party.

ANC leader Jacob Zuma is embroiled in a revived graft case.

The South African Institute of Race Relations, an independent research and policy organisation, said ANC corruption appeared to follow a now familiar pattern.

"Equally the response to such corruption is far from adequate with the ANC relying on its redeployment policies to manage the problem within the party," said the institute's deputy CEO Frans Cronje in comments on its website.

"But such an approach merely shifts the corrupt dealings around while doing insurmountable damage to the party, the government, and the country, in what amounts in many cases to a disregard for the rule of law."

Niehaus' case has triggered a media frenzy.

"Carl's deceit in paradise," was a headline splashed across the front page of South Africa's Star newspaper on Tuesday, accompanied by a photomontage of a smug-looking Niehaus in a smart jacket and a palm-tree lined luxury beach resort in Mauritius. The report alleged he failed to fully settle his bill.

"That the ANC was aware of the corrupt dealings of the man they appointed as their spokesperson to convey their election manifesto promise to act against corruption is beyond scandalous," said Cronje.

"It is actually very sad to see this within one of Africa's most revered liberation movements. Many stalwarts of the liberation struggle must see the current state of the ruling party as a great betrayal."

The ANC is expected to win the April 22 election, making leader Zuma president and cementing its post-apartheid grip on politics in Africa's biggest economy, but it faces its toughest competition from the Congress of the People party.

Brian Sokhutu, an ANC spokesman, said the party's election manifesto strongly opposes any form of corruption.

"There is a bit of sensation as well in this whole story. We at the ANC think that it is an unfortunate situation of financial difficulties which any South African can go through," said Sokhutu.