I agree that at the moment there is no mechanism in the ANC able to reform it because of institutionalized corruption. 
Every reform initiative (and there have been a few, very few) breaks against the over-riding necessity of those in power in national and local government to hang on for as long, and as corruptly,  as possible because their income depends on it.
They look at the fate of ANC councillors who have lost power -- of whom only a half at one count I saw have managed to find other work -- and shudder.  
And in order to keep their positions, they are increasingly adopting gang street warfare tactics comparable to those used by US mafia bosses in the 1950s and 1960s, with the rival gangs being opposition parties but also other "factions" in the local ANC or unions perceived as threatening their grip of the levers of government and tenders.
It will take more than one man in a clean shirt and expensive suit to clean it up.