It's a free-for-all as Mantashe hits back at Sisulu

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has thrown down the gauntlet to his critics, refusing to back down from his comments that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should succeed President Jacob Zuma at the party’s elective conference in December.

Yesterday Mantashe also held back no punches in slamming Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, saying her recent comments questioning his “Struggle credentials” were unfortunate.

In responding to Sisulu, he said the party had entered a “very silly season” in the run-up to to its conference. Sisulu was quoted as saying Mantashe’s perceived endorsement of Ramaphosa showed that he “lacked the necessary objectivity and credibility to run a democratic conference”.

“The question is: where was he (Mantashe) when we were fighting for this freedom in exile and in jail, which he today is abusing for his personal interest? 

"He must hand over an ANC that is intact. Under him as an SG we gave birth to Cope and EFF and fractured Cosatu - something we never imagined,” she reportedly said.

Mantashe lashed out at Sisulu, saying that she equated the Struggle to being in exile.

“Her comments were unfortunate in the sense that she associates struggle with exile and therefore everybody who was internal here, who was actually in the belly of the beast, facing the enemy every day, who was disrupting point of production every day was working for royal families that were cautioned from the enemy,” he said.

“What you must remember is that if you work for a royal family you are an invisible contributor... they take the credit on your behalf. 

"I thought I must not engage in the discussion with Minister Sisulu because I think she committed a grave mistake. I want to come back and engage on the political issues in the run-up to the conference.” 

Mantashe also fired a broadside against those who argue that by endorsing Ramaphosa he will not be impartial in dealing with party processes ahead of the conference.

He said that it was the party’s national executive committee which had the responsibility to run the conference.

He further highlighted that there were six members of the NEC, including officials who were vying for the presidency of the party.

He maintained that ANC members should engage on why Ramaphosa doesn’t have to succeed Zuma in the same way it was argued that Zuma become president before the Polokwane conference in 2007.

“When people want to limit preparations of the ANC to one individual, all of them are part of an executive committee that must prepare for conference. It is just malicious and mischievous to try and pin me down on the issue,” he said.

He reiterated that the party’s succession needed to be managed, because failure to do so would lead to a “disaster as it happened in 2007 and many other years ago”.

“What made me to be accused of supporting Ramaphosa is that I am asking a simple question: an organisation that is 105 years old must manage succession. 

"You cannot have a free-for-all; I (have been) raising that as a principled issue for sometime now.

Secondly I am saying every time succession has not been managed we ended up in a crisis.

“The ANC would have to explain to members and society if it overlooked Ramaphosa.”

Political Bureau