Fikile Mbalula says Ramaphosa’s position in the ANC is not under threat as party members are 100 percent behind him, despite dark forces.
On Thursday, 9 May 2019, African National Congress (ANC) head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, said that people who were plotting against President Cyril Ramaphosa would not succeed. This as reports emerged that some ANC leaders were secretly caucusing against Ramaphosa.
“The president’s position is safe in the party. The president’s position is not under threat in any way. One hundred percent ANC members are behind the president, but I cannot account for dark forces who will make an attempt on Ramaphosa for one reason or another.
“The ANC is determined to consolidate its unity,” Mbalula said.
“If we don’t do that, because even our own internal polling tells us that if we don’t look at the ANC’s unity and we are concerned about ourselves and our squabbles, our people walk away and turn off. We can’t let them down, we just need to stick to what is right and what needs to be done,” he added.
It is reported that during the election campaigning period, some ANC leaders were holding secret meetings, plotting to overthrow Ramaphosa. As announced by Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address in February 2019, Mbalula reiterated that the ANC would be cutting the number of Cabinet members.
“Cabinet will be cut down, and it’s not a promise, it’s not fiction, it is going to happen,” he said.
Mbalula closed off by saying that the ruling party was humbled by the overwhelming support it was receiving at the polls. At the time, the ANC had accumulated more than 5.4 million votes counted so far, placing them at a comfortable 56 percent.
“If you understand where we come from in terms of the image of the ANC and perceptions of our party which affected us negatively, if anyone of us don’t see the impact of the things that happened probably yesteryear on the ANC, let them look at the board,” he said.
Abenathi Gqomo
