POLL | What do you think of Mbalula’s luxurious yacht grand entrance at Robben Island?

13 January 2025 - 12:14 By TIMESLIVE
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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula's fancy yacht entrance at Robben Island has been criticised.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula's fancy yacht entrance at Robben Island has been criticised.
Image: Supplied/Saron Seretlo

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has been criticised for arriving at a weekend party event on Robben Island in a luxurious yacht belonging to businessman Fernando Acafrao, snubbing the museum ferry Sikhululekile which transported other leaders.

His dramatic entrance left some ANC leaders shocked, including Nomvula Mokonyane and Gwen Ramokgopa, as the ANC has committed to eliminating a flashy lifestyle in its public campaigns as part of its renewal programme.

“It was ugly. He arrived late and was the first to leave,” said an ANC leader who was at the event.

“We all went to Robben Island on a normal ferry with everyone else and this man comes with this expensive thing. It plays again into what happened in Durban with the G-Wagon. He doesn’t learn.”

Last year, Mbalula arrived in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon along with heavy security at the party's manifesto launch in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the elections.

Senior ANC leaders who witnessed the dramatic arrival said it was concerning Mbalula continued to pull stunts that raise eyebrows.

However, ANC NEC member Donald Selamolela defended Mbalula, saying he was not responsible for choosing his transportation.

“The secretary-general does not arrange his own movements. Whatever he goes with is determined by the ANC. It would have been the ANC that arranged whatever means of transport Mbalula used,” Selamolela said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.

“Don't put it on Mbalula, as he does not arrange his own movement when he is running [on] the programme of the ANC. Put it on the ANC.”

TimesLIVE


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