Bheki Cele out of order: ANCYL

11 September 2017 - 17:58 By Neo Goba
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ANC national executive committee member Bheki Cele. File photo.
ANC national executive committee member Bheki Cele. File photo.
Image: ALON SKUY

ANC national executive committee member Bheki Cele must stop making unfounded statements about the party's plans to remove deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa from his seat.

"People must learn to speak on facts and not speak on rumours. When the time is right [for] whatever announcement that must be made‚ the ANC or government will make that particular announcement‚" said ANC Youth League secretary-general Njabulo Nzuza.

On Sunday‚ Cele dropped a bombshell at the KwaZulu-Natal provincial shop stewards’ council meeting‚ stating that the party was planning to remove Ramaphosa and create enough chaos in order for the elective conference not to go ahead in December when a new ANC president will be elected.

The former police commissioner reportedly claimed that he has been shown a message that outlines plans to remove Ramaphosa.

"Comrade Bheki Cele may be growing old and I don’t know where his hallucinations are coming from. If he has facts on these things he must present us with facts and whatever information he has. He is painting a picture that says the president (Jacob Zuma) is reckless.

"We are actually very disappointed with the increasing number of leaders that we are slowly losing respect for now by them going to public platforms and raising negative issues about the ANC whereas they know where the headquarters of the ANC are‚" said Nzuza.

The Young Lions secretary-general said there is no need for the hype that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was going back to Parliament because she was originally on the top list.

He accused Cele of seeking popularity so that he can be seen as a pop star which is better than anything else in the ANC.

Cosatu president S'dumo Dlamini who was also present at the provincial shop stewards’ council meeting‚ downplayed claims that a plan is being hatched to remove Ramaphosa. He told TimesLIVE that Cele was not talking from a point of authority because the information he had highlighted was based on an SMS that was circulating on social media.

Additional reporting by Taschica Pillay

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