ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula, has slammed the leaks that have come to characterise the ANC over the years.
Mbalula briefed the media at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg just hours after his letter to Gauteng Provincial chairperson and Premier Panyaza Lesufi was leaked and circulated on social media.
The leaked letter exposed a failed bid by Mbalula to reign in Lesufi whom according to internal sources easily fended off the attempt by “presenting facts”.
Most embarrassing for Mbalula was the circulation o by EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo, of another letter, penned by DA Chairperson of Federal Council Helen Zille seemingly instructing the ANC national leadership to reinstate Celliers Brink who was ousted as Tshwane Mayor last month and to discipline Lesufi whom she accuses of jeopardising the stability of hung municipalities by among others instigating the motion of no confidence that may see the ANC reclaim control of the capital and of contradicting the ANC by excluding the DA from his provincial cabinet.
Mbalula said the leaking of internal discussions pointed to worrying levels of ill-discipline in the ANC which needed to be reigned in. Mbalula was himself found to have leaked a cabinet decision to place the country on lockdown in 2020.
He said in comparison to other parties the ANC was flooding with leaders not able to keep anything confidential.
“We accept when comrades differ on a particular position, but at the end of the day, there is discipline in the organisation. Have you ever had the secrets of the DA or even Malema? We don’t know. We didn’t even know when Floyd was living. We didn’t believe it. These people are secretive more than the KGB. I mean, it’s only the ANC that all its things are well known. “ You write them a letter. They leak it to their friends,” he said.
Nani, we can’t blame you if somebody once said to me, I can see your agitator. Somebody said to me, Mbalula you think that we’ve got time to follow the ANC and its secrets. Things are coming to our offices. Since the lady they are delivered here, you think I’ve got time to be running after you? People are coming here and giving us your secrets, minutes, everything they are coming here, coming from respectable leaders of the ANC. They think that they are undermining Mbalula. They are denigrating the ANC. They are undermining ramaposa. They are killing the ANC. They are killing the revolution.
Mbalula who was allegedly embarrassed when Lesufi presented his side of the story was at pains to underplay the tone of his letter even contradicting it by suggesting Panyaza has been articulating GNU impressively.
“And I’ve seen a Sizwe Mpofu Welsh releasing a podcast video where panyaza explained excellently. GMU, I like it, go and watch it. So that’s a very excellent explanation about the GNU, and that is what is expected of a leader of the ANC in the province, populism that is perpetrated by others, not by nyaza, by others, that for the ANC to be in the GNU, it’s a sell out position, it’s populism and it’s ideologically inadequate. They are lazy to think you will know that a tactical intervention is not equal to a strategic goal, because GMU is not a strategic goal. It’s temporary,” he said in a an indirect swipe at SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila who has refused to accept the GNU and actively campaigns against it.
Monday’s meetings between the ANC National working committee and provincial leaders of Gauteng and KZN means none of the provinces would have their provincial executive committees disbanded, at least not in the near future.
