By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
African National Congess (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party’s Electoral Committee has provided an update on the progress of the candidate selection process for the upcoming 2024 national elections.
Mbalula addressed a post-NEC briefing on the outcomes of the NEC meeting at the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The party discussed issues including former president Jacob Zuma, elections and the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza.
Mbalula took multiple jabs at Zuma, describing him as an irritation to the party and a counter-revolutionary who is trying to commit daylight robbery of ANC voters.
The party said Zuma had stolen way too much from the party to garner support, adding that he would not achieve his claimed two-thirds majority.
Mbalula reflected on Zuma’s reign as president: “We had never dealt with somebody like him at the helm of the ANC, and our liberation struggle so may commit mistakes in how we deal with him but we will learn a lot and out of Zuma’s experience revolutionaries will be born.”
He said the ANC has completed its consolidation of the Framework on the Integrity Commission, thus paving the way for what it called an accelerated and beyond reproach implementation of processes to uphold the integrity of the party.
About 90 members of the ANC were implicated in the state capture report.
Mbalula said some of the cases were handed over to the disciplinary committee.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the party’s Electoral Committee has provided an update on the candidate selection process for the upcoming 2024 national elections.
He said that according to the committee, the process was running smoothly and expected to be completed by mid-February.
“Once the process is finalised, the extended NEC will convene to review and approve the final list of candidates,” he stated.
However, he made it clear that President Cyril Ramaphosa would be the face of the elections and no one else.
In addition to the candidate selection process, the secretary-general said all provinces were required to organise extended Provincial Executive Committees (PECs) to nominate Premier candidates.
“It is worth noting, the ANC will announce the Premier candidates post the election process. All hands on deck, focused on the election process,” he said.
He said the January 8 statement emphasised that 2024 was the crucial year to defend freedom and advance a better life for South Africans.
Mbalula also said the ANC is not to blame for the current state of affairs in Johannesburg. He said this was a problem caused by the coalitions.
“The ANC in this coalition does not control anything. We do not have a mayor, the only thing that we control is the disbursement of funds and money. Transport is controlled by the PA [Patriotic Alliance],” he said.
Mbalula himself was part of the discussions the ANC had with Al Jama-ah and the EFF to take control of the city.
He also took a jab at the City of Johannesburg’s leaders for squabbling with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi when the explosion occurred in Bree Street (Lilian Ngoyi Street). At the time, they said the squabble was over jurisdiction issues, but it also seemed to be about who was receiving media attention.
“They have to fight with Panyaza [saying] ‘why did you come here before us?’. They had to fight for terrain. People are dying in the meantime,” he said.
Mbalula also said the EFF was not an official coalition partner of the ANC. He said the ANC would announce its stance on coalitions at a later stage.