The New York Times publishes scathing attack on David Mabuza

David Mabuza's rise within the ANC and how under the ruling party the education system has "been in shambles', is the focus of a New York Times article that was published Saturday.

Titled 'South Africa vows to end corruption. Are its new leaders part of the problem?', the article details the 'odd choice' of Mabuza as deputy president at "a time when the ANC is desperate to purge its reputation for graft and restore its image as the rightful heir to Mandela's legacy".

It quotes ANC sources who claim that the secret behind Mabuza's rise to power is that he siphoned off money from schools and other public services in Mpumalanga "to buy loyalty and amass enormous power, making him impossible to ignore on the national stage and putting him in a position to shape South Africa for years to come".

Written by Norimitsu Onishi and Selam Gebrekidan, the article starts off by detailing how a six-year-old fell into a pit toilet in Middleplaas, a town in Mpumalanga, which Mabuza was premier of.

The article details Mabuza's checkered history involving claims of siphoning cash from schools for his personal benefit and states that despite promises by Mabuza at the helm of the province to transform schools, nearly a quarter of primary schools in Mpumalanga still have pit toilets.

The lengthy article was retweeted over 250 times and had over 340 comments at the time of publishing this article.

Here's some of the reaction on Twitter:

You can read the full article here.