Dlamini-Zuma alleged that a voice note implicated Lamola in paying delegates at the ANC's 2017 elective conference
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola. Picture: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has welcomed former Cabinet minister and ANC veteran Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s withdrawal of claims linking him to a disputed ANC voice note.
Dlamini‑Zuma was a guest on the African Renaissance Podcast, hosted by former EFF MP and chief whip Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, earlier this month.
Voice note
She alleged that a voice note circulating during the ANC’s 2017 conference implicated Lamola in paying delegates to secure votes.
“You remember there was a voice [note] from Lamola saying they are waiting for the money because this NDZ thing [Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma campaign] is going to be disturbed if the money doesn’t come,” she alleged.
Allegations denied
Lamola denied the allegation of vote-buying during the ANC’s 54th National Conference in 2017 and asked her to retract it “in a comradely manner”, warning that he would pursue legal action unless she issued a public retraction.
On Tuesday, 25 August 2026, Dlamini‑Zuma stepped back from her controversial claim that Lamola was involved in vote‑buying at the party’s national conferences, but insists the underlying issue of money in politics cannot be ignored.
Dlamini‑Zuma’s retraction
Lamola has welcomed Dlamini‑Zuma’s retraction.
“I welcome Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s withdrawal of her attribution of a voice note to me in relation to the ANC’s internal electoral processes. Her statement vindicates what I have maintained from the outset: the voice note is not mine, and I was not involved in the conduct falsely attributed to me.
“The influence of money in politics is a legitimate and important matter for public discussion. That discussion must, however, proceed on accurate facts and without falsely implicating individuals,” Lamola said.
Fikile Mbalula
The dispute has also drawn in ANC secretary‑general Fikile Mbalula, whom Dlamini‑Zuma accused of “dishing out money” at the 2022 conference.
“Mbalula was dishing [out] money in the clinic… openly. It wasn’t like a secret,” Dlamini-Zuma alleged in the same podcast. Asked if Mbalula was handing out the money to be elected, she replied, “To be elected and for the president to be elected.”
She has not withdrawn that claim, and Mbalula has initiated legal proceedings, saying his lawyers wrote to the former minister demanding that she retract or substantiate the allegations.
The political spat between Dlamini-Zuma, Lamola and Mbalula comes as the ANC prepares for the local government election on 4 November 2026, with Mbalula warning that “there is no political solution” to the reputational damage caused by her claims.
