Johannesburg – As more and more leaders within the ANC attend the party’s NEC meeting in Nasrec this weekend, ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe has called for party members to refrain from raising issues in public platforms.
Mantashe, who is in attendance, spoke out against the public spats that continue to plague the ordinary political meeting which debated the issue of the Phala Phala farm scandal, among other issues ahead of the 55th national elective conference next month.
Mantashe said the NEC meeting and other structures exist to ventilate issues that many within the ANC wish to raise, adding that these are the proper channels for raising matters of concern. Mantashe was addressing members of the media on the sidelines of the NEC meeting that has seen others call for Ramaphosa to step aside, while some within the ANC feel Ramaphosa should stay put.
Mantashe cautioned current and former ANC leaders such as Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe and many others to refrain from indulging in the public spats.
“We are having an ANC NEC meeting. This is where we raise issues and discuss them. If you have a view and your view does not persist, I can give you a list of people who raised this in the ANC NEC that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step aside and be defeated in the NEC, but still go to the media to get weight of the media behind them,” he said.
He added that this was not the way ANC leaders and members in good standing should behave.
“It does not work that way. You go to the structure then it becomes a decision of the organisation,” Mantashe added.
The Phala Phala issue, which has been on everyone’s lips since Arthur Fraser opened a case with the Rosebank police in June, continues to be a thorny issue between differing factions within the party. Some are calling for Ramaphosa to step aside, while many within his faction support his second term, come the elective conference at the same venue next month. The issue will continue to be the subject of debate as the NEC meeting continues today.
During his political view report on Friday, Ramaphosa told party leaders that the Phala Phala money was proceeds from the sale of game and were legitimate transactions.
The Star
