Mbalula supports Pandor's comments on ANC's decline

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has defended party veteran Naledi Pandor, saying there is “nothing wrong” with her recent comments that the ANC has lost ”its glory” and that many South Africans now view the party with “disdain, horror and shame.”

Speaking at a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Mbalula dismissed suggestions that Pandor should face disciplinary action.

He said Pandor spoke truthfully and appropriately at a veteran ANC event.

“She said all the right things about the ANC as a veteran, and I am proud of her,” Mbalula said. “She spoke like a veteran, at an ANC veteran event. There’s nothing wrong with what she said.”

Mbalula said Pandor’s remarks were in line with the values and policies of the ANC and called on other leaders to echo her sentiments.

“She was reinforcing ANC policy on a public platform, talking about the values expected of ANC members,” he said. 

“She couldn’t have said anything other than what she said at that event honouring (struggle stalwart) uMama Gertrude Shope.”

Shope, a former Member of Parliament and ANC Women’s League president, died in May this year and would have turned 100 this month. 

Pandor delivered her remarks during a centenary lecture in Shope’s honour on Sunday.

“I read in the newspapers that Naledi must be disciplined - for what?” Mbalula asked. 

“Because she’s saying the right things. That’s what the leadership of the ANC and its veterans are expected to say - to remind us all the time that these things have got to happen.”

He said Pandor’s speech reflected the kind of leadership Shope stood for.

“Unless Mahlengi (referring to Mahlengi Bengu-Motsiri, ANC national spokesperson, who was present at the briefing) can educate me otherwise, I don’t see why she deserves a reprimand. I listened to her, and there is nothing to reprimand. It’s correct - it’s what the ANC stands for,” Mbalula said.

Pandor, the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, slammed the ANC’s current state, warning that Shope would have been “deeply troubled” by the corruption and erosion of values within the party.

“She knew of the corruption that has dragged down the revolutionary morality of our leaders,” Pandor said. 

“She was aware of our failures at local government level and of the inadequate capacity to serve, which is so prevalent in our public service.”

She added that Shope would have recognised the ANC’s decline, not just in electoral outcomes, but in its ability to embody ethical leadership and serve the people.

The ANC’s support declined significantly in the 2024 general elections, leading to the loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994. 

The loss led to the formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU), which has since been marred by tensions, especially between the ANC and former opposition parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+).

“We need a new cadre of renewal,” Pandor said. 

“We have forgotten that we exist to serve the people. We need to bring that back - by scrutinising our leaders carefully and ensuring that if they fail in their duties, we hold them to account, no matter their position.”

She further criticised leaders who seek solutions elsewhere instead of showing decisive leadership themselves.

“There is nothing worse in an organisation or in a country than a leader who has no solution. We can’t be asking someone else ‘how do we solve this?’ The people are looking to us to resolve it.”

Pandor called on women within the movement to reclaim the ANC’s historic mission and emphasised the importance of unity across generations.

“Now, having suffered from being called an ‘old woman’ by ANC members, I really hope we create value out of intergenerational cooperation,” she said. 

“Older women have a great deal to offer; young women have a great deal to offer. Working together, we would be a strong force.”

“It is possible, comrades, to arrest the slide. It is possible to restore our lost glory. And we have lost our glory - let’s not pretend about it. The people are looking at us with disdain. The people are looking at us with horror and shame,” Pandor added.

Meanwhile, Mbalula condemned recent "disparaging" comments made by former Cabinet Minister Malusi Gigaba and suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu against the party.

He confirmed that a disciplinary hearing will be taken against the two senior party members.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

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