ANC says days of defending members in the wrong are in the past
At a media briefing in Johannesburg on Monday, the ANC denied that any of its members were being protected.
FILE: ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula. Picture: @MYANC/X
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) says its days of defending members who do wrong things are in the past.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for axing its Deputy Minister, Andrew Whitfield, for travelling abroad without permission while he protects ANC ministers embroiled in corruption.
At a media briefing in Johannesburg on Monday, the ANC denied that any of its members were being protected.
The DA said Ramaphosa must also remove Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, for lying to Parliament about Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) appointments.
READ: DA lays criminal charge against Higher Education Minister Nkabane
The blue party also added Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane to the list, stating that she must also be held accountable for her links to the VBS heist. Additionally, David Mahlobo was included, with the DA saying he should never have been appointed as Deputy Water Minister with the state capture report hanging over his head.
However, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the party doesn’t believe Nkabane lied to Parliament.
He said both Simelane and Mahlobo had not been charged in court.
“This thing that we are complicit as a party, to the protection of wrongdoing - maybe in the past, at the present moment, we are carrying out our renewal project.”
The ANC's integrity commission recently cleared four of its members mentioned in the state capture report - Mahlobo, Malusi Gigaba, Zizi Kodwa and Cedrick Frolick.