Cape Town — ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, has called out the party’s secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, over his comments that he lied about the Nkandla fire pool saga.
Mantashe believed that Mbalula got carried away with his comments on Jacob Zuma, believing that he was carried away by the cameras and media presence.
“I thought he was carried away by you guys; he saw your cameras, he got taken away, and he said things he should not have said. To me, it’s an issue that we have to deal with internally. When you lead, you count every word you say. If you don’t, you catch fire. And I think this is something that you learn in the trade. As you grow in the trade, you understand that better. You can say things without being excited, but say and explain things very well,” he said.
Mantashe said that he was under the impression the ANC had closed the Nkandla saga and questioned why it was being opened again. He also believes Zuma should not be expelled from the party after his decision to walk away.
VIDEO | ANC NEC member Gwede Mantashe says there’s no need to expel former president Jacob Zuma from the party as he has walked away on his own. #Mantashe also says ANC Secretary General Fikile #Mbalula was excited when speaking about the ANC’s support for the Nkandla upgrades. pic.twitter.com/VQpDhrVJSq
— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 9, 2024
Mbalula did not take Mantashe’s comments lying down and he responded swiftly to the allegations by the party chairperson, claiming he tried to call him to set the record straight.
“The national chair, we have protocols. I have been trying to get hold of him [Mantashe] the whole day, but I understand we’re in the field and I couldn’t get hold of him. We’ve got protocols, we don’t talk past each other we don’t talk in the media and we don’t promote public spats,” Mbalula said.
“I’m available, open to counsel from elders and everyone to give me guidance. I’m not allergic to any criticism. So, in respect of those protocols, be the first to break them, the national chair could have raised the issues with me if he’s got concerns about what I said,” he added.
Mbalula has not shied away from commenting on Zuma’s decision to de-campaign the ANC. When he revealed that the ANC was protecting Zuma during his Nkandla saga, he received a ton of criticism, The Citizen reported.
“We defended Former President Zuma, we even went to Parliament and said a swimming Pool is a fire Pool, The Constitutional Court led by Mogoeng Mogoeng released a judgement against Jacob Zuma but the ANC stood by him, today Zuma says he can’t stand President Cyril Ramaphosa,” Mbalula said of Zuma.
“I’ve been trying to get hold of Gwede Mantashe the whole day, but I understand we’re in the field & I couldn’t get hold of him, We’ve got protocols, we don’t talk past each other we don’t talk in the media and we don’t promote public spats” ANC SG Fikile Mbalula
Video : SABC… pic.twitter.com/23DanOKe0S
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) January 9, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
