Newly-elected African National Congress (ANC) eThekwini chairperson Zandile Gumede, treasurer Zoe Tshabalala, and ANC Mpumalanga treasurer Mandla Msibi, will not be affected by the ANC's revised step-aside regulations that stipulate that criminally charged members may no longer be nominated to contest for party positions.

Despite having been criminally charged, Gumede, Tshabalala, and Msibi were nominated, accepted the nominations, and were elected into provincial and regional party positions - bringing into question the ANC's renewal process.

Addressing the media on Thursday, ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said the amendments to the step-aside rule were not retrospective and that it would be unfair for those who had already contested elections before the implementation of the changes, to have the positions taken from them.

"The amendments affect the future, not the past. So we are going to apply it going forward. Look at it this way, if there is no policy and a member of the ANC acts in a particular way, and later a policy is introduced, it might be unfair to go back; you may recall that even when the step-aside resolution was adopted last year, we didn't implement it retrospectively," said Mashatile.

This meant that Gumede, Tshabala, and Msibi would remain in their positions, but they had stepped aside until their cases are finalised.

Mashatile's press briefing came after the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) had met on Sunday and Monday, and resolved to tighten measures to prevent those affected by the contentious resolution from being eligible to have leadership positions in the organisation.

The decision came after an outcry following double-murder accused Msibi and corruption and fraud accused Gumede and Tshabalala being nominated and elected to senior party positions - bringing shame to the party, which had been on a so-called renewal crusade.

Mashatile confirmed that the party had, during the special two-day meeting, resolved to bar anyone who had stepped aside from standing to be elected in any position as it tightened measures around the contentious 2017 resolution.

He said the NEC noted the confusion and reputational damage stemming from its own branches electing those implicated in criminality back into leadership positions and wanted to ensure that this did not continue to happen.

While Gumede and Tshabalala may have survived the new changes to the step-aside resolution, Mashatile confirmed that a delegate from eThekwini had laid a complaint with the secretary-general's office regarding challenges relating to the recently concluded conference.

He added that the complainant wanted the outcomes to be nullified, but investigations were still underway.

On the step-aside resolution, the NEC also explicitly stated:Likewise, any member who has been suspended in terms of Rule 25.70 following an indictment to appear in a court of law on any charge should also not be allowed to stand for positions on the branch, regional, provincial or national executive committees.

This would cost ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule his position, as he was summarily suspended for failing to step aside.

Mashatile said the new guideline also compelled party structures such as the regional, provincial, and national executive committees to review the case of members affected by the step-aside rule every year, and allow for the affected members whose cases had progressed to approach these structures at any point and request a review.

The change in the regulation was applauded as a victory for ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies, who had been pushing for an organisational renewal, particularly the cleaning up of the corruption-tainted image of the ANC.

However, some who opposed the regulations had questioned the timing, saying the move was meant to prevent Ramaphosa's enemies from standing against his faction. Mashatile said there was nothing untoward regarding the timing, as the party had, on implementing the resolution, indicated that "the document was a living document", meaning changes could be made to it as and when the party saw fit.

He said the changes would still be subject to scrutiny by branches, and they could still dismantle the resolution at the party's policy conference.