2024 General Elections: ANC seemingly muzzles Gwede Mantashe after tribalism comments
- The ANC has issued a communication to clarify which of its members will be present at the official IEC results center
- The letter excludes their chair Gwede Mantashe, who has trended recently following controversial statements about KZN
- Social media users believe that the ANC has issued a gag order to silence Mantashe from saying anything else to the media
- An expert on political governance spoke with Briefly News and shared his thoughts on Mantashe's utterings
SOUTH AFRICA - The voting process has reached the halfway mark and it appears the anxiety may be getting to some more than others. The ANC still remains below 50% and ANC chair Gwede Mantashe has lamented the loss of the KZN province with controversial statements about ethnic voting and tribalism.
Source: UGC
In what appears to be a response to his utterances, the ANC's secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, has communicated to the party's employees clarifying which members were allowed to be at the IEC results centre during this election period. Mbalula clarified that only the following people were allowed: Mokonyane, Ntuli, Kekana, and Bhengu. This list excludes the ANC chair, Gwede Mantashe, who has been trending on social media for his controversial comments about the ANC's performance.
The letter, which was posted on X by a senior political journalist, reads:
Social media users react to ANC letter
Many social media users have concluded that the letter was directly addressed to Mantashe. Reactions were mixed, with some expressing amusement while others felt sorry for the longstanding ANC chair.
X user @SMutlaneng jokingly said:
"I'm feeling tribalism."
@dada_Mpisane said:
"Are they insinuating Gwede Mantashe must leave the ROC"
@stinyoyo said:
"Addressing Gwede when they have his contacts."
@sdu_mpembe said:
"Will we see people resigning."
Expert weighs in on Mantashe's comments
Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu, director of the School of Governance at Stellenbosch University, has weighed in on Gwede Mantashe's comments. He said we should be wary of making such remarks.
"Of course we know that the issue of tribalism and ethnicity contributed to the performance of Umkhonto in KwaZulu Natal, but it is not something that we should celebrate. It is something that we should be wary of. Something of this nature could create divisions within the country, it could create other challenges that we do not want to see. But we must also remember that they did not only get votes in KZN but in other provinces too so it cannot be attributed to only that. But it would be a terrible thing if that is the case."
Gwede Mantashe speaks to Briefly News
Gwede Mantashe, the African National Congress (ANC) Chairperson, attended the National ROC with an air of confidence about the vote-counting process. However, his demeanour soon changed as early election results from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) rolled in.
Despite leading nationally, in not so many words, Mantashe noted to Briefly News that the ANC was shaken by the MKP's success over the province.
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Source: Briefly News
