ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane has warned individuals who are being touted by corrupt ­factions that their bid to be leaders of the ANC come 2017 won’t succeed and that they should rather decline those nominations.

“When people nominate you, you must check who these people are. Whether they are clean or if they are just fraudsters. If they are not clean, then deny the nomination. Don’t allow yourself to be put in power by a faction that is corrupt,” Chikane said.

In an interview with City Press, Chikane ­reaffirmed the urgent need for a consultative ­conference ahead of both the policy and elective conferences of the ANC, which will happen in June and December respectively.

A group of more than 101 veterans have appealed to the ANC to consider their wish for a consultative conference to address a crisis within the organisation. The group rejected a proposal by the ANC national executive committee a few days ago that the ­conference take place during the first two days of the policy conference next year.

The reverend said that rot had set into the ANC like a deep cancer and that the only way to get rid of it was a consultative conference that would look to take action against those who have allowed themselves to be captured.

“We want to go to the consultative conference and agree on the terms and say that, if you don’t meet these requirements, you should not stand for elections. I am not going to give you names. All those corrupted beyond the point of no return, if they manage to buy their way to leaders who are going to support what they do, they will not be in power by 2019 and they will go to jail. They will go to jail. Fix this thing now…don’t try schemes to go and produce your own leaders who will protect you, don’t.”

Chikane said that the veterans were of the view that the conference must take place in March or April, at least two months before the policy conference. He said that the ANC must find the money and prioritise the conference.

He warned that the ANC has no choice but to ­accept the conference as proposed by the veterans or face losing the rule of the country come 2019.

“They must agree because if they don’t agree and continue on this trajectory, the game is over, the ANC is dead. You can’t continue in this way where people produce money to buy state-owned enterprises and leaders. You will lose an election.”

The veterans told the media that the conference should include even those who were not members of the ANC.

“It is not about taking dirty linen to the public, it is about going to the public and admitting we made mistakes, please assist us to change in a manner that you see fit. The UDF [United Democratic Front] is an example – there were medical doctors, trade unions, churches. You had everybody there and, when we spoke, we spoke on behalf of the ­nation, not on behalf of the party. One of the greatest ­mistakes the ANC has made is to focus on itself and its members.

“That is what we need to turn around at that consultative conference, where people begin to ­understand again that the movement was there for the people, not for itself,” Chikane said.