Those who want to flush the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) out, they must also deal with me, says ANC deputy president David Mabuza.
Mabuza was addressing scores of ANC members who turned out in big numbers for the funeral service of his aunt in Phola near Hazyview, Mpumalanga on Friday. He told the mourners that he is an ally of Ramaphosa.
According to Mabuza, the divided ruling ANC will emerge triumphant and retain political power during the much-anticipated 2024 general elections.
Later in the day and in a show to announce his availability for second term as the country’s deputy president, Mabuza urged ANC members in Limpopo to refrain from factionalism, egomaniac tendencies, entitlement and corruption.
Addressing a packed Jake Botes Hall in Polokwane during a memorial lecturer for late former ANC Youth League president Peter Mokaba, Mabuza said: “The only demons since 1994 that have sneaked into the ruling party’s dignity and ranks are factionalism and corruption which must be fought and removed. You must respect black, green, and gold when you wear it.”
Recently, Mabuza also appealed to party members in the province to unite and end factionalism and a culture of corruption after Lawrence Mapoulo, the former Polokwane mayor, and former ANC provincial executive committee member Sello Lediga left the party and accused it of being a shadow of its former self.
In their parting shot, the duo said the party is led by corrupt leaders who are suffering from narcissistic entitlement and corrupt factional tendencies.
In scathing remarks, they also spoke about the party’s poor performance at the local government elections in November 2021, saying the former liberation movement is in political intensive care unit.
Lediga has since joined Herman Mashaba’s Action SA as the party’s provincial chairperson in Limpopo while Mapoulo has defected to the EFF as its senior leader in Polokwane.
The EFF has tasked Mapoulo to work closely with Quinton Ndlozi who has been deployed to Limpopo as the convener. This after EFF provincial leader Jossey Buthane was demoted because of the red berets’ poor results during the local elections.
Mabuza told the crowd at the Botes Hall: “We must refrain from these factions because they are dividing us. It cannot be correct that we label ourselves with names such as Taliban and Boko Haram, which aren’t good names, but [are] for [the] thugs that are killing the people. The so-called Boko Haram is murdering people in Nigeria, therefore you can’t call yourselves such.”
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