ANC veteran and National Executive Committee member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma remains adamant: if the party is genuinely committed to renewal, it must confront and tackle the issue of vote-buying ahead of its 56th elective conference in 2027.
Dlamini Zuma in a recent interview with Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi on his African Renaissance Podcast, accused the current leadership, particularly ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula and party president Cyril Ramaphosa of buying their way into the party's top leadership.
While the former African Union chairperson has since retracted an allegation implicating Ronald Lamola in alleged vote buying with reference to a voice recording, she said her broader allegations on the use of money to influence conference outcomes stood.
Mbalula in response to Dlamini Zuma's utterances has denied any wrongdoing and brought legal action against her, with the matter expected in court next month.
Dlamini Zuma had claimed that it is public knowledge that Mbalula was seen distributing money to delegates at a clinic and was allegedly heard in a voice recording discussing it. She also mentioned that in the 2017 elective conference, she believed she was winning but did not understand how she lost, suggesting that money may have been a factor.
On Wednesday, Dlamini Zuma told The National while she had retracted her remarks on identifying Lamola as the voice in the recording, she stood by her claims of vote-buying in the 2017 and 2022 ANC conferences.
“I am not a voice expert, so I cannot insist that it was Lamola’s voice on the recording, which is why I withdrew my earlier statement that it was him talking, but I still maintain that money was used to influence the outcomes of the conferences. This must be addressed for the party to renew itself,” she said.
She confirmed that Mbalula had served her with court papers and she is expected to file her answering affidavit by September 4. The matter is expected to be heard in the Gauteng High Court on September 16, and Dlamini Zuma insisted that she is more than ready to defend her claims there.
“I will never withdraw and apologise to Mbalula about this. I cannot tell the media what evidence I have since the matter is sub judice. All I am saying is that me and Mbalula will meet in court,” she vowed.
Despite a raging public debate about the matter, the ANC has not said anything about it in public. Party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri defended the party’s silence, saying that the position of the ANC on the use of money to influence political outcomes is well-documented. Bhengu said that any member who makes an allegation against another has the obligation to provide evidence of such wrongdoing to the Integrity Commission.
Political analyst Professor Musa Xulu attributed the ANC’s silence on the matter to its poor track record of internal investigations of its senior members.
“They tend to close ranks and I think that is what they are doing now,” said Xulu.
Furthermore, Xulu said that the party is taking a cautious approach to public spats within its ranks out of fear of senior members defecting to other political parties, particularly as local government elections koom.
This is not the first time Dlamini Zuma has broken ranks with the ANC. In December 2022, she sided with the opposition in Parliament and voted for the adoption of the Section 89 report, which aimed to establish an impeachment committee to investigate Ramaphosa in connection with the Phala Phala scandal. While the opposition was defeated at the time, the process was recently revived after the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament erred in blocking the impeachment process.
Another ANC veteran, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has warned against the use of money in influencing the outcome of the party's elective conferences, saying this will save the party from total collapse.
In an interview with IOL in February this year, Mkhize said the meaningful renewal of the party will only be realised when the ANC conducts the election of leaders in a truthful, transparent, and honest way. He said a leadership that came to power without the use of money would have been truly elected by the people and would be able to command greater respect, warning that 'a leadership of money' would not be taken seriously by the people.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za