DEALING WITH THE ANC CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

The ANC – recently declared “corruption accused No 1” by its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in a letter sent to the organisation’s members – is facing a crisis that, at the very least, puts its political future at risk.

Amid the crisis, and while Ramaphosa may not have fully appreciated the political, legal and moral import of his pronouncements, the ANC is, arguably, a criminal enterprise and a case for its lawful dissolution seems reasonable.

Let me explain.

Seeking the dissolution of a charitable organisation isn’t unheard of.

Under US law, a criminal enterprise is defined as “a group of individuals with an identified hierarchy, or comparable structure, engaged in significant criminal activity”. Last year, the Donald J Trump Charitable Foundation was forced to shut its doors and pay $2 million (R33.23 million) in damages after reaching a settlement with that country’s attorney-general. This was after its eponymous founder, his