Mbalula slams ANC leaks and clarifies ‘nothing personal’ with Lesufi after call-up

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula clarified that there was nothing personal between him and Lesufi. Picture: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula clarified that there was nothing personal between him and Lesufi. Picture: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers

Published Oct 8, 2024

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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has slammed ill-disciplined party members who leaked confidential internal documents to the public, including communication with Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi.

Mbalula said that this behaviour weakened the ANC and would make members not trustworthy with the secrets of the party.

Despite members having differences, Mbalula said discipline should always be maintained, and that includes leaking information.

"Have you ever heard the secrets of the DA or even Malema? We don't know, we didn't even know when Floyd (Shivambu) was leaving, we didn't believe it. These people are secretive... It is only the ANC that it’s things are well-known...

"ANC iyavuza, vu vu vu...," Mbalula remarked.

Loosely, the remark means that the ANC was full of people who leaked its internal affairs to the public. Mbalula added those members did not have respect for the organisation.

"Comrades think they are defending the revolution by leaking information, but they are destroying it," he said.

Mbalula addressed the media on Tuesday on the outcomes of the National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.

In the briefing, Mbalula clarified that there was no personal issue between him and Lesufi after Lesufi was summoned to the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, on Monday to explain his negative remarks about the Government of National Unity (GNU).

He said there was no such thing that Lesufi was summoned to be charged.

"This correspondence deals with internal organisational matters which should be dealt with as such. We therefore condemn in the strongest possible terms disinformation efforts that rely on internal information peddling to achieve particular ends and project the ANC in a negative light.

"We did write to Lesufi expressing concern about his public utterances on matters relating to the GNU and the coalitions in local municipalities. This concern was premised on the backdrop of the resolutions of the National Executive Committee in this regard.

"Lesufi presented himself to the officials of the ANC and provided an explanation that was accepted by the officials. This is consistent with the organisational culture of the ANC, which requires us to give comrades a hearing when there is reasonable apprehension that their conduct may place the ANC in disrepute," he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on DA federal chairperson Helen Zille's remarks on the GNU, Mbalula said they had no control over what Zille says.

"She is the leader of the DA, what she says everyday and how she perceives the ANC, it is her view and we dismiss those views as the party," he said.

Zille repeatedly mentioned that the ANC and DA were in a grand coalition.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

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