‘We have protocols’ – Mbalula hits back at Mantashe for comments on Zuma and Nkandla

African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has taken a swipe at the party’s national chairperson Gwede Mantashe for criticising him for his comments about the Nkandla scandal and protecting former president Jacob Zuma.

On Sunday, Mbalula dropped a bombshell while addressing members of the ANC at the Mjindi Town Hall in Barberton, when he admitted that members of the ruling party had lied about the fire pool at Zuma’s Nkandla homestead to protect the former president.

On Tuesday, Mantashe said Mbalula “said things he should not have said” when he publicly admitted that the governing party lied to Parliament and South Africans in defence of Zuma over the 2014 Nkandla scandal.

Watch Fikile Mbalula speaking about Gwede Mantashe’s comments

“I've been trying to get hold of Gwede Mantashe the whole day, but I understand we're in the field & I couldn't get hold of him, We've got protocols, we don't talk past each other we don't talk in the media and we don't promote public spats” ANC SG Fikile Mbalula

Video : SABC… pic.twitter.com/23DanOKe0S

— News Live SA (@newslivesa) January 9, 2024

“I listened very carefully to what the secretary-general said. He is my secretary-general. I thought he was carried away by yourself, guys. He saw the cameras and got taken away and said things he should not have said,” said Mantashe.

“To me, it’s an issue that we have to deal with internally. When you lead, you count every word you say. If you don’t, you catch fire. And I think this is something that you learn in the trade [of being a secretary-general].”

ANC public spats

However, Mbalula did not take the comments lying down.

“The national chair, we have protocols. I have been trying to get hold of him [Mantashe] the whole day, but I understand we’re in the field and I couldn’t get hold of him. We’ve got protocols, we don’t talk past each other we don’t talk in the media and we don’t promote public spats,” said Mbalula.

“I’m available, open to counsel from elders and everyone to give me guidance. I’m not allergic to any criticism. So, in respect of those protocols, be the first to break them, the national chair could have raised the issues with me if he’s got concerns about what I said,” Mbalula fired back.

ALSO READ: Mbalula’s firepool admission ‘could cost ANC and Ramaphosa dearly’

Defending Zuma

Mbalula’s revelation about the ANC protecting Zuma was heavily criticised

The SG said: “We defended former president Zuma, we even went to Parliament and said a swimming pool is a fire pool. The Constitutional Court led by Mogoeng Mogoeng released a judgment against Jacob Zuma but the ANC stood by him, today Zuma says he can’t stand President Cyril Ramaphosa.”

Civil rights movement NotInMyName slammed Mbalula’s comments as an insult to the country’s constitution and parliament.

Ramaphosa loyalist

North-West University political analyst Prof Andre Duvenhage said Mbalula, “a loyalist of Ramaphosa”, was trying to safeguard Ramaphosa using an “extremely counterproductive” approach which would not benefit the ANC or Ramaphosa.

“Although he may be speaking the truth, from a strategic and tactical point of view, it was a devastating standpoint from an ANC perspective. The ANC is going to pay a huge penalty for this,” he said.

Duvenhage said this was just one of Mbalula’s announcements that were problematic.

“He is becoming a problematic figure as secretary-general of the ANC from an ANC perspective,” he said.

Duvenhage also pointed out that this admission was a recognition that the ANC was a corrupt party, driven and governed by mafias which had no moral standing and that it should not be the government of South Africa from a democratic perspective.

Additional reporting by Lunga Simelane

ALSO READ: Mbalula’s admission ANC lied about Zuma’s Nkandla fire pool ‘an insult to constitution’