Polokwane - ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has clarified his contentious comments, saying that the damning Zondo Commission’s enquiry into the state capture and corruption report should be used to rebuild the battered governing party and not to prosecute party leaders.
Mantashe said: "As members of the ANC, we must not use the Zondo commission’s report to settle scores where we chase what we see as internal enemies. The report must help us rebuild the ANC."
He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting he held with Limpopo leaders on Friday.
But on Saturday, while addressing the media at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, the former ANC secretary-general was at pains to clarify his statement.
He insisted that he meant party members should not use it to purge one another. The issue of whether to prosecute was within the jurisdiction of the prosecuting body, he noted.
Although he has not been widely mentioned in the first part of the state capture report, Mantashe was implicated by Angelo Agrizzi, former COO of facilities management company Bosasa, who alleged that he got some benefits from Bosasa. Agrizzi alleged that Bosasa installed security cameras at Mantashe's homes in Johannesburg and the Eastern Cape.
The remaining parts of the Zondo Comission’s report will be submitted by 28 February this year.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
Political Bureau