MBOMBELA – Premier and provincial chairman of the ANC, Mr David Mabuza, denies that there is a problem between the SACP and ANC in the province.
He called a press conference on Thursday to address questions around the incident last weekend where supporters of the ANC and SACP clashed violently ahead of the latter’s annual Joe Slovo memorial lecture in KaNyamazane.
“There is no problem between the SACP and ANC in the province. There is a problem in the SACP about (provincial secretary Mr Bonakele) Majuba. Every time he opens his mouth he will insult me. He has called me a corrupt person and a killer and a spy,” said Mabuza.
He said allegations have been levelled against him ever since he took power in Mpumalanga. “There has been no single person who said you did this, you did that, but in the eyes of the people this is a corrupt leader.”
“Last year the story emerged, DD Mabuza a spy. How? I have worked through the ranks of government and the ANC, but today I am a spy. It is clear in my mind that all the things said are not because people hate me, they are hell-bent on leading the ANC I am leading and want to become premier. That is the cancer that has gotten into the ANC. People are fighting for positions.”
Mabuza has accused former premier and ANC treasurer-general, Dr Mathews Phosa, of fabricating allegations that he had been an apartheid-era spy. He said he had written to the minister of intelligence to investigate the allegations and had asked the ANC and president, Mr Jacob Zuma, to launch an inquiry into the matter as well as the person making the allegations. He said he also opened a criminal case against Phosa.
Phosa has maintained that he reported the allegations to the ANC leadership as was his duty. “I have not received civil summons. I have not received criminal charges because I have committed no crime,” he stated
Mabuza went on to say, “This person used to be my brother, my father, brought me up. What is happening is strange. There are people who are deliberately throwing mud at me. I must go and tell people to behave. They are dividing the people. My message to the branches is, let us keep our discipline, unity is important”.
