MBOMBELA – The ANC Mpumalanga came out against the party’s chief whip in parliament, Mr Jackson Mthembu, this week.
He has called on the party’s national executive committee (NEC), including the president, Mr Jacob Zuma and his deputy, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, to step down from the party’s decision-making body.
ANC spokesman, Mr Zizi Kodwa has asked structures not to express their views in public but to use organisational channels. Yet, the province is joined by parties in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal in criticising Mthembu.
Mthembu has joined forces with party stalwarts Dr Mathews Phosa, Mr Trevor Manuel, Mr Ronnie Kasrils and Mr Sipho Pityana in calling for Zuma to resign.
He said unless the ANC changed its course, it risked losing power in the 2019 general elections. He also slammed what he termed “the use of state organs to settle political scores”, relating to the fraud charges against finance minister, Mr Pravin Gordhan.
Gordhan called for unity in the party during his mid-term budget speech in parliament on Wednesday.
“The lions that fail to work together as a team will fail to take down even a limping buffalo,” he said.
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The provincial executive council in Mpumalanga mirrored concerns about division, saying on Monday that if anyone should resign, it should be Mthembu.
Provincial spokesman, Mr Thulare Madibeng, said during a press conference that Mthembu, who is a member of a party branch in Mpumalanga, was not mandated to speak on internal organisational matters.
“We are not expecting our ambassadors to behave the way he is behaving. The chief whip of the ANC in parliament cannot speak for the party,” Madibeng said.
He added that they were “grieving” the utterances which was causing a sense of division and confusion. It has made them wonder on whose behalf and to whose benefit were Mthembu statements made.
Madibeng said they did not support calls for an early elective conference.
Provincial secretary, Mr Mandla Ndlovu, said the NEC was dealing with the matters raised and members had to follow proper processes to resolve internal issues.
“We are concerned that most of us are speaking in different voices. After the local government elections our people complained about that,” Ndlovu said.
The Mpumalanga Ancyl joined in calling for disciplinary action against Mthembu on Tuesday. The youth wing’s secretary, Mr Pholoso Mbatsane, said Mthembu was rough and rowdy, a “factory fault” as he called it.
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“He is an embarrassment to us. Alcoholics Anonymous should be consulted if Mthembu has relapsed on his gargantuan alcohol intake given his historical background of being fond of Jack Daniels,” Mbatsane said.
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Youth league chairman, Mr Tim Mashele, said they would ensure the secretary general, Mr Gwede Mantashe, instituted disciplinary actions against Mthembu for bringing the party into disrepute, or he should be taken to rehab.
“We cannot allow a person to go and sit in a bar, drink and become excited and call the media and speak nonsense. We want to inherit a strong and coherent organisation,” Mashele added.
