We are aware of ANC members who plan to join Zuma’s MK Party: Mbalula

‘This defection to Jacob Zuma is staggered and well-planned’

09 October 2024 - 13:13
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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called out party members who leak internal secrets to the public. File photo.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called out party members who leak internal secrets to the public. File photo.
Image: Freddy Mavunda

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says he is aware of party members who are planning to leave the party for Jacob Zuma's MK Party (MKP).

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Mbalula said he was aware of impending departures, taking a swipe at former KwaZulu-Natal premier and ANC veteran Willies Mchunu who recently resigned from the ANC. Mchunu, a long-time ally of Zuma, has yet to disclose his next political move, fuelling speculation about him joining the MKP.

“There's going to be a lot of people in the ANC who we'll be told have defected. We know they have long left. They have not been with us. They have decided to work for Zuma and not the ANC,” Mbalula said.

“Some have decided they will wait, while others are leaving daily. Why would a person with impeccable credentials leave the ANC at the age of 80? For what? To go where? You are promised by Zuma he can create a new ANC within a short space of time out of the MKP, and you want all of us to believe there is no agenda?

“We are aware. This defection to Zuma is staggered and well-planned. All that we are looking at is how long it will take because they are recruiting inside the ANC and among other [parties].

“Some have long made up their minds. They have long been with Zuma. We see them on social media promoting MKP. The biggest sinners, according to them, are us, and they are the right revolutionaries and superheroes who decided to form a party to kill a party of revolution.”

The ANC lost its outright majority after the May 29 elections, with the newly formed MKP obtaining the most votes in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mbalula also called out party members who leak internal secrets to the public, saying other parties' internal matters remain confidential. He cited the departure of Floyd Shivambu, former EFF deputy president, to the MKP as an example of how parties can keep their internal dynamics private.

“Have you ever heard the secrets of the DA or Malema? We didn't know when Floyd was leaving. We couldn't believe it. These people are secretive. Iyavuza iANC ivuza vuvuvu [the ANC is leaking]. There's nothing about the ANC that people don't know because they don't have respect for the political party.

“You write them a letter, and they leak it to their friends. The DA and Malema are more secretive than Stalin. Their matters are secret, but ours are known before they are made public — and we are a party that is in government and supposed to be supporting its interests.”

Mbalula this week summoned Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi to Luthuli House and the letter was leaked to the media.

Mbalula said the leaking of letters would “kill the party's revolution”.

“Our comrades expose our secrets, thinking they are defending the revolution, but they are killing it. Someone said to me, 'Mbalula, do you think we have time to follow the ANC and its secrets? Things are coming to us in our offices while we are sitting.' Minutes and other things are coming from respectable members of the ANC.

“They think they're undermining Mbalula, but they're denigrating the ANC. They are undermining Ramaphosa, they are killing the ANC, and they are killing the revolution.”

TimesLIVE


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