This week, the ANC in Luthuli House appears to have taken a resolution to target EFF leader Julius Malema. This is if the statements of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday are anything to go by.
Mbalula took a veiled swipe at Malema, who six weeks ago predicted a collapse of the Eskom grid, something he at the time said would happen in a fortnight.
Mbalula’s salvo comes directly behind the heels of the newly elected ANC Youth League (ANCYL) national officials, who on Monday fingered Malema for being fired from the party for “ill-discipline” and attempting to “create a cult” out of the ANCYL.
On Wednesday, it was Mbalula’s turn to laugh off Malema’s grid collapse prediction, saying the ANC was vindicated.
According to Mbalula, the ANC’s attempts to resolve the power crisis had proved to be working despite Malema’s prediction.
“For the month of June, the average generation stabilised. As part of winter 2023, planned outages were to be contained, and this too has also happened,” said Mbalula.
“That time we had a massive propaganda and lies that were peddled saying we are facing a grid collapse. And it was rumoured to be coming from very reliable sources in the intelligence … but there is no grid collapse.
“This affirms the appropriateness of commitment to maintenance as part of efforts to restore reliability and stabilise unplanned outages.”
On May 15, Malema sent the country into shockwaves, saying the country was headed for a blackout in about two weeks.
He said at the time: “In the next two weeks, we have been warned, there’s going to be darkness. We are almost at a point of a grid collapse. It is a reality that South Africans must know while ANC politicians are continuing business as usual.
“We are in a deep crisis. Cellphone networks will not work, we won’t receive water, and nothing is going to function because we are headed for a disaster.
“It is not going to be darkness for a few hours and then it comes back, at times it will take three to four days, at times a week, and at times it will take a month.”
Mbalula said the ANC was having the last laugh and sharpening its spears to further solidify its strategies to deal with loadshedding at the upcoming national executive committee (NEC) meeting starting on Friday.
At the same NEC meeting, he added, the party will focus on reviewing its election manifesto ahead of the 2024 national and provincial elections.
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