Trevor Manuel Explains Why He Left the ANC, Says the Magic of the Ruling Party Was Gone After 2007 Conference

• Former Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has broken his silence about the reasons he left the African National Congress
• Speaking in a radio interview, Manuel says it all went downhill after the 2007 ANC conference in Polokwane
• The former Cabinet Minister has been making headlines over allegations that he helped form an ANC defector political party

JOHANNESBURG - Trevor Manuel, South Africa's former Finance Minister has cleared up any confusion surrounding his African National Congress membership.

In a recent radio interview, Manuel confirmed that he is no longer a member of the ANC and stated part of the reason is the party's non-existence of moral leadership.

Manuel noted that the 2007 conference in Polokwane, Limpopo made him realise that the ANC was no longer the same party he had joined in his youth.

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"The magic, the stance of moral leadership that had shaped the ANC throughout my youth was gone. I think the event at Polokwane took that away,” said Manuel.

Manuel noted that while he may have stayed a member of the ANC for a few years after the 2007 conference, he knew that the party was not the same anymore, according to a 702 interview.

Towards the end of his membership, Manuel had lost favour for asking former President Jacob Zuma to pay back the money that was used to upgrade his Nkandla homestead.

At the time Gwede Manthsi called Manuel a free agent and compared him to the likes of former Ministers Jay Naidoo and Ronnie Kasrils, who had negative comments after leaving government, according to TimesLIVE.

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Manuel was recently brought back into the news cycle after media personality Dr JJ Tabane alleged in a podcast interview that Manuel played a hand in the formation of the Congress of the People (COPE). COPE was formed by a number of ANC members who lost faith in the ruling party.

He asked the Power to Truth host to retract his statement or face legal action, Tabane has since said that he would not be retracting his statement and stands by what he said, according to TimesLIVE.

Trevor Manuel threatens to sue JJ Tabane for accusing him of helping form COPE, demands an apology

Briefly News previously that former Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has threatened to take legal action against JJ Tabane who said he was a founding member of COPE. Tabane made the controversial comments during his podcast The Hustlers Corner a few weeks ago and is being asked to retract them.

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Manuel addressed the accusations through a letter and refuted the claims that he played a part in the formation of the political party. The former member of the African National Congress national executive committee said he is irate with the comments.

Manuel demands a public apology or he will sue the media personality for causing damage to his reputation since his words carry greater weight. According to the letter shared by the Daily Maverick, when COPE was founded, Manuel was a member of the ANC NEC and said the accusation “impugns” his integrity.

Source: Briefly News