Proper and fair processes must be followed to prevent divisions in the ANC over recommendations that corruption-accused ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule should step down, one of the party's top officials has said.

ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile told News24, "in the ANC, there are processes to follow and they must be followed" with regard to alleged wrongdoing by members.

He said the party's top six officials had been compiling guidelines on what these processes should be when a leader faces serious charges in court and has to step aside, as directed by the party's national executive committee (NEC) at its meeting in August.

It is an attempt to get the party's procedures in line with the resolution at its 2017 national conference, as well as in line with its own constitution.

Members must feel there was an opportunity to explain themselves, and that is why the [secretary-general] went to the integrity commission and explained himself.

Magashule volunteered to appear before the party's integrity commission this past weekend after being charged last month with fraud, corruption and racketeering in connection with a R255 million asbestos eradication tender.

In a report leaked to the media on Tuesday, after being emailed by the commission to NEC members, the integrity commission recommends that the NEC follows its own resolutions and asks Magashule to step aside.

The commission quoted the August NEC meeting as having resolved that, should the officials not have developed the guidelines on stepping aside in time, party leaders must step aside anyway - when charged in court.

Mashatile has, however, echoed Magashule's warning on Wednesday that the leaking of the integrity commission's report could have compromised the process.

Magashule indicated he would not step aside immediately.

He would wait for the NEC to meet, in the new year, and for ANC processes to unfold.

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Mashatile, who is the first ANC top six official, after Magashule, to speak out after the report surfaced in the media on Tuesday, said: 

In the correct processes of the ANC, that report should first go to the officials. They would look at this matter and satisfy themselves that it's correct, then send it to the [national working committee] and then the NEC. Now there is a step that has been missed. The integrity commission is already briefing the media.

Mashatile said: "It won't divide the ANC if there is fairness in dealing with [the process]. That is why the NEC, after its meeting in August, didn't immediately implement the step aside resolution, but said officials must look at it."

Their guidelines should be "fair and transparent", so that "nobody must feel that they are targeted".

The guidelines are intended to help the entire ANC, in provinces as well as in regions, he said.

"That's why we look at all angles and continue to ensure that there's fairness in dealing with these difficult matters."

He said the officials were due to meet on Thursday night [17 December], mainly to discuss its January 8th rally next year, and again on Monday, and would possibly meet again in the week between Christmas and New Year to discuss the stepping aside matter.

In a speech written for delivery on Wednesday [16 December] at the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association's celebration of 59 years after the founding of the ANC's military wing, Mashatile urged party members to "close the social distance" between them and ordinary South Africans.

"We must sustain contact with the people," he told News24.

"It's difficult times with Covid-19, but the ANC must always be seen to be tackling issues that affect people directly, otherwise if they don't, the social distance increases. They must be dealing with issues on the ground."

He said the ANC should unite and be a cohesive force that could drive change in society. Unity will also make it strong.

"An organisation where factions are ruling becomes weaker, and once weaker, it can't lead," he said.

Asked whether he thought the ANC was united, he admitted there have been "challenges, particularly when there are conferences when people differ on who should lead".

"There's a tendency for groupings to emerge, and that threatens the unity of the ANC," he said.

"It's important at all times to remind people you're allowed to differ and support different leaders, but that doesn't mean we are enemies."

Mashatile, who urged unity ahead of the party's 2017 national conference, added: "I'm quite happy that, to a large extent, the ANC is unified."