ANC NEC will not be disbanded, says Mantashe in wake of Motau document leak
The party's national chairperson Gwede Manatashe has moved to clear the ANC's position on retired General Mojo Motau and his ANC Cadres Summit.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe addresses a media briefing in Pretoria on level 3 lockdown regulations on 29 May 2020. Picture: @GCISMedia/Twitter
Gwede Mantashe
Mojo Motau
ANC Cadres Summit
Tshidi Madia | 78 days ago
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) said that its national executive committee (NEC) would not be disbanded.
Motau and other retired military officials, under the umbrella ANC Cadres, drafted a 135-page document giving analysis on the state of the party.
READ: Motau submits documents to ANC 'exposing' enemy within party
They said that the ANC was captured by neo-liberal and neo-colonial forces, claiming that it had lost its posture of being a liberation movement and had not done much to change the fortunes of South Africans.
Manatashe said that the ANC has been quiet in a bid to respect the confidentiality of the talks but with the document being leaked to the public, it needed to act.
Mantashe described the meeting with Mojo and other ANC cadres as cordial.
He said that the current leadership of the party took no issue with the group's global and domestic analysis but it was the idea of the executive being disbanded for a task team that they rejected.
"The NEC of the ANC is the supreme body of the ANC between conferences and therefore, that question is not up for discussion."
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Manatashe also defended the ANC's protracted silence on the matter, saying that the party felt the South African National Defence Force head General Solly Shoke's initial response, warning members of the force against getting involved in political matters, was sufficient.
But the party was forced to act because of the leak.
"But when people pre-empt that, we begin to suspect that is mischief at its best and it is intended to agitate and anger society and we need to clarify our position," Mantashe said.
Manatshe, while warning the public not to take the document seriously, said that the ANC would meet with the group again next week.