Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has spoken out against the nomination of Free State premier Ace Magashule for the post of ANC secretary-general, saying those who raised his name did not take the position seriously.
Speaking to the Sunday Times after causing a Twitter storm on Thursday by objecting to Magashule's nomination by the ANC Youth League, Mbalula said the Free State chairman could be elected to any position on the party's national executive committee except that of secretary-general.
His comments come as talk grows of a group of ANC leaders who are lobbying party structures to elect Mbalula to replace incumbent Gwede Mantashe - and for Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to become the ANC's deputy president.Mbalula raised the ire of the youth league in the Free State, which described his comments as sour grapes because the league had chosen Magashule over him. Both men come from the Free State.
But Mbalula said he had no ambitions to replace Mantashe.
He said he spoke out about the succession with "no qualms or hangover", only a mission to save the party.
"I got nothing against Ace Magashule personally that has harmed me. But I don't expect him to be happy with my position.
"[I am] saying he can be a leader of the ANC anywhere in the NEC. But secretary-general? Haah, never!"
He said he expressed his view on the secretary-general post because it was being undermined in discussions about leadership in the run-up to the ANC's December conference.
"They don't consider the secretary-general position as serious. It is very serious for the ANC to survive and to have effective branches. The SG has to be receptive ... the office of the SG comes with a lot of integrity. It must not take sides and annihilate people and run comrades to the ground," Mbalula said, taking a jab at Magashule.
He said he would give ANC structures further reasons for his belief that Magashule could not be elected to that position.
Mbalula said he refused to be "married to a faction" and defended his call for Gauteng premier David Makhura to take over from Mantashe.
"I could still go back to [the youth league] and persuade them, if I am ambitious. But I will persuade them about Makhura. And in 100 years to come they will thank me," he said.
The minister spoke highly of Makhura as the only unifier for the party.
"We must wake up and smell the coffee. If there is a name that can unite us it is Makhura. If you talk about capacity, David has it ... He came to Gauteng as a unifier. He is a reconciler. He is not vindictive. He is somebody that can listen to our problems," he said...