Gauteng ANC senior leader Lebogang Maile dismissed speculation that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula was referring to him when he spoke about ill-disciplined members posting things on social media that brought the party into disrepute.
In a recent press briefing in Cape Town, Mbalula condemned members who post things on social media at night while they are drunk. He promised to charge them for that.
"I have seen others on Twitter every day when they have taken something at 2am, leaders of the ANC, tweeting things that bring the ANC into disrepute…
"There’s nothing wrong with raising views and ideas but to attack the ANC and cast aspersions on the leadership will not be tolerated," Mbalula said, vowing to suppress them.
Mbalula's utterances come after Maile posted on X on Sunday, at around 2am, about how he will not forgive those who wanted to intentionally destroy the ANC.
Maile said he was not a coward and the ANC that he joined was not a cult.
“Igwala kulonina Madoda,mazileme ziyetyeni (we are not cowards, forward we go), Aluta Continua. Then the ANC I joined and love is not like a pig; it does not devour its own children,” his tweets read.
However, in a media briefing on Tuesday, Maile said Mbalula's comments were not meant for him.
He said this was because his tweets were “well measured and not a mistake".
“It might not sit well with certain people, but I am not a coward, and I express my views,” he said, adding his views were known and no one was obliged to like them.
Maile acknowledged that Mbalula was right to call out members who tweet about the party publicly, saying he would never do such.
"I will never respond to Mbalula on social media or in the media," he said.
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