Mbalula says he’ll sue Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma over vote-buying claims

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says he will take ANC stalwart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to court unless she clarifies allegations that he ‘dished out’ money to influence the outcome of the party’s 2022 national elective conference.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Friday, Mbalula said he had already written to Dlamini-Zuma through his lawyers, insisting that the allegations had damaged his reputation.

“I’ve written to her, advised by my lawyers that she must clarify those issues, and the failure to do so will go to court,” Mbalula said.

“It’s not a threat. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Dlamini-Zuma was not present at the NEC meeting currently under way. Mbalula said she had indicated that she was unable to attend because she had travelled to Cuba.

His remarks follow comments made by Dlamini-Zuma during an interview on Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s African Renaissance podcast, in which she alleged that Mbalula openly distributed money during the ANC’s 2022 Nasrec conference to secure his election as secretary-general and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s re-election as ANC president.

Responding to those claims, Mbalula said a leader of Dlamini-Zuma’s stature should have raised the matter through the ANC’s internal structures instead of making the allegations publicly.

“Comrade Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is a leader of this National Executive Committee and you wouldn’t expect such erratic actions from her.”

“You would expect that a person of her standing would have raised the matters formally in the organisation and allowed the Integrity Commission to deal with those matters if she felt they had not been addressed.”

He said the ANC would deal with the matter internally through its officials, but maintained that allegations affecting an individual’s integrity could not simply remain unanswered.

“When you denigrate and deal with the integrity of an individual in public, there is a choice, in the context of the South African Constitution, that those matters must be settled in court.”

Mbalula also questioned the timing of the allegations, saying the ANC was focused on preparations for the upcoming local government elections.

“We are facing an election and therefore facing an election means that all hands on deck.”

He said public accusations made through a podcast would do little to advance the ANC’s renewal programme.

“A podcast will not resolve a matter of renewal. It remains a podcast unless the intentions are either malicious to weaken the ANC and not to help the ANC overcome and address those particular issues.”

Mbalula said unsubstantiated allegations could not simply become accepted as fact.

“For people who were not at Nasrec, they will believe this,” he said.

“The record before the public is the record that says that you did something.”

He said the only appropriate avenue for resolving the dispute was through the courts if Dlamini-Zuma failed to clarify her remarks.

“No individual has the right, in the context of the South African Constitution, to tarnish anybody’s name.”