‘You sent him to the bush’: Mantashe spills on Mabuza’s presidential moemish

The late former deputy president David Mabuza was misled by supporters into believing he could be ANC president, claims national chairperson Gwede Mantashe.

He was speaking at Mabuza’s memorial service on Thursday in Mayflower, Mpumalanga.

Mabuza left Cabinet following the election of Paul Mashatile as the ANC’s deputy president at the ANC’s 2022 elective conference in Nasrec.

“You guys misled DD [Mabuza], including you people from Mpumalanga. You told him to contest the Presidency, and Paul [Mashatile] should come in as deputy president. You were sending him to the bush,” Mantashe said.

“We begged him and we said, ‘DD, continue for a second term as deputy president’. But you guys had convinced him that he would be president.

“This is not a fairytale. I was there and I spoke to him,” he said.

How Mabuza became deputy president

Mantashe said he was one of the people who tried to convince Mabuza to support the CR17 campaign instead, which led to Ramaphosa’s election as leader of the ANC.

“He was not a neutral person; he was able to persuade, but he could be persuaded as well.”

Mabauza and the ANC’s renewal process

Despite this, Mantashe said Mabuza was a dedicated member of the ANC to the end.

“He believed wholly in organisational renewal, and he appreciated more than many of us that renewal is anchored in the organisational culture and traditions of the ANC.

“You cannot speak about renewal and not be serious about it. If you do that, then it simply will not work,” he said.

Certificates

Mantashe said renewal also means that ANC members should develop themselves and get educated.

“Our youth league boys want to lead with certificates from home affairs. They do not want to develop. They want us to check their home affairs certificates,” he said.

He said it was important for ANCYL members to study further because they also need to be represented in the country’s government.

“Young people provide energy and eagerness,” he said.

ALSO READ: SACP official claims Mabuza backed unity to prevent Zuma’s ‘rule from the grave’

A last meeting with Mabuza

Meanwhile, Mantashe said he met Mabuza at his home in Sandton just days before his death.

“I am not going to say what we spoke about, but I asked him, ‘How do you survive, DD, outside of politics?’ He was also telling me the things that he wants to do, and we discussed them,” he said.

Mabuza will be buried on Saturday in Mpumalanga.

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