Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. (@Senzo_Mchunu/X)
The ANC says it will take disciplinary action against senior party member Malusi Gigaba and suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu after they made public comments about its national executive committee (NEC) which the party views as “disparaging”.
In a statement, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said their conduct “represents a flagrant violation of ANC internal communication protocols and undermines the fundamental discipline of the movement”.
“These comrades acted outside of any sanctioned organisational mandate or collective structure,” she said.
“Their remarks do not reflect the views of any legitimate structure of the movement and must be seen as an opportunistic assault on the collective image, credibility and cohesion of the African National Congress.”
In an interview published in the Sunday Times, Gigaba said the NEC had failed to meet its responsibilities and that the ANC shouldn’t have gone into a coalition with the Democratic Alliance after losing the general elections last year.
“I think we are [too] preoccupied with our little corners, our little groupings,” he told the publication. “There doesn’t seem to exist the possibility for us to get up briefly from these little groupings, so that we can now discuss what is … in the best interest of our country, of our movement, of our people, so that we achieve a postcolonial society. And until we are ready to do that, I think we are failing in our duty.”
Mchunu came under fire last week after he said the ANC risked losing relevance if it was not successful in next year’s local government elections.
“If we do not win municipalities in the upcoming local government [elections] next year, come the national government elections, we will be history,” Mchunu said at the tombstone unveiling for struggle stalwart Nokuhamba Nyawo in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Bhengu-Motsiri said Gigaba and Mchunu were “casting aspersions on the character and unity of the ANC, portraying the organisation as divided, incoherent and collapsing”.
“These actions serve only the strategic agenda of counter-revolution and weaken the people’s confidence in their movement.”
“No comrade will be exempt from the discipline of the organisation, which demands unity, discipline and revolutionary morality from all,” she added.
“The renewal programme cannot coexist with ill-discipline; we have no tolerance for conduct that seeks to weaken the collective.”
The ANC has instructed the two not to make further unsanctioned public statements.
Gigaba, who was a strong defender of Jacob Zuma during the state capture period, has criticised ANC veterans, including former Robben Island prisoner Ahmed Kathrada, for calling on the former president to step down.
He said he still respected Zuma as a former ANC leader despite his decision to form his own party outside of the ANC. Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party drew away a large swathe of ANC votes in the May 2024 elections.
Mchunu was placed on special leave by President Cyril Ramaphosa after corruption allegations against him made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Mchunu has denied any wrongdoing.
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