Polokwane – The African National Congress (ANC) Head of Elections, Fikile Mbalula “mistakenly” endorsed the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) when he urged people to vote for the red berets over the weekend.
In a post in which he tweeted that President Cyril Ramaphosa was campaigning in Polokwane on Sunday, Mbalula wrote:
“The President is now in ward 26 addressing the community in Turfloop. ANC in Polokwane #voteEFF #BuildingBetterCommunities.”
The tweet went viral, and before he could delete it, EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu shared the tweet.
“Fighter Mbalula cannot hide his true intentions now. This is no longer a mistake. It’s a clarion call that all people of SA must #VoteEFF,” Shivambu wrote.
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Fighter Mbalula cannot hide his true intentions now. This is no longer a mistake:- it’s a clarion call that all people of South Africa must #VoteEFF! #LandAndJobsManje! Namhlanje! pic.twitter.com/hz3ddyjEN5
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) October 24, 2021
EFF’s member of parliament Mbuyiseni Ndlozi also weighed in on the tweet and wrote:
“The ANC Head of Elections Fikile Mbalula has called on all South Africans to #VoteEFF.”
[BREAKING] The ANC Head of Elections Fikile Mbalula has called on all South Africans to #VoteEFF. pic.twitter.com/S9SiwHOFYf
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) October 24, 2021
Mbalula responded to Ndlozi, by tweeting:
“Nawe ulapha mhlekazi (you are here too). I know the ground is tough, that’s why this Twitter autocorrect would be exciting. Tweet freebie. That’s an obvious Twitter tag autocorrect.”
Nawe ulapha Mhlekazi, I know the ground is tough that’s why this twitter autocorrect would be exciting, tweet freebie ?. That’s an obvious twitter tag autocorrect. #VoteANC https://t.co/NcbBRonkF9 pic.twitter.com/Oy4b37LSR8
— Fikile Mbalula |VOTE ANC (@MbalulaFikile) October 24, 2021
He corrected the tweet and retyped the same tweet, replacing the “vote EFF” hashtag with a “vote ANC” hashtag.
“Mr Fix”, as Mbalula is affectionately known, laughed off at the blooper and blamed it on auto-correct.
One tweep remembered that this was not even the first time that Mbalula made this kind of mistake. He used the hashtag again in 2018 ahead of ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa hitting the campaign trail.
The user tweeted: “Our own fighter @MbalulaFikile deployed in the @MYANC. 2018 vs 2021 #VoteEFF.”
Our own fighter @MbalulaFikile deployed in the @MYANC. 2018 vs 2021 #VoteEFF pic.twitter.com/X6Xsosa8tB
— Mhlawakhe Vatsha (@MhlaaaMhlawakhe) October 24, 2021
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Compiled by Reginald Nhlapo
