Helen Zille Takes Swipe at ANC as Dlamini Zuma and Mbalula Trade Blows Over Vote-Buying Claims
- DA Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate Helen Zille weighed in on a public feud between senior ANC figures over vote-buying allegations
- Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma alleged that Fikile Mbalula paid for votes at the 2022 ANC elective conference to secure his role as Secretary-General
- Mbalula denied the claims and threatened legal action, while Zille's response reignited debate about money politics inside the ANC
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Source: Getty Images
SOUTH AFRICA - Helen Zille, the Democratic Alliance's Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate, fired off a pointed remark on X on 6 August 2026, saying vote-buying was a "key component of ANC culture." The comment came as a fierce public dispute between two senior ANC leaders played out on social media.
The row began when Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma made explosive claims that Fikile Mbalula had paid out money to delegates at the ANC's 2022 national elective conference. She alleged the funds were used to secure Mbalula's election as ANC Secretary-General and to back Cyril Ramaphosa's re-election as ANC President.
Dlamini Zuma described the practice as an open secret, arguing that the role of money in the party's internal leadership contests had grown increasingly difficult to ignore.
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Mbalula denies the claims
Mbalula pushed back hard, calling the allegations painful and damaging. He denied involvement in any vote-buying scheme and warned that legal action remained on the table. He also suggested the ANC itself would determine how to respond to Dlamini Zuma's statements.
It was Mbalula's public denial, posted on X, that drew Zille into the conversation. Her response was brief and blunt, framing the scandal not as an exception but as standard practice within the ruling party.
Mzansi reacts to the political drama
@SaBones10754 wrote:
"There is always two side a corruptor and corruptee. Watch where you bark, karma is real."
@_Masedo_ said:
"The same way we know that IEC has a template of election results with ANC being number 1 and DA number 2."
@MigaPhillip added:
"This just proves that those who believed GNU government will work well it hasn't."
@mothusi_nobhala noted:
"Vote buying came in the ANC with CR17 cabal. Vote buying was not culture of the ANC but it came to exist when a billionaire decided to become a president."
@morrow_nw said:
"The ANC will be the proponents of their own destruction… personal vendettas, revenge and a scramble for what's left of the public purse to plunder."
Zille laughs of ANC supporter giving the middle finger
Briefly News also reported that a video of Democratic Alliance Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille brushing off a crude gesture from an ANC supporter with laughter wentviral on X, drawing widespread commentary from South Africans. The clip, posted on X on 3 August 2026 was filmed while Zille was out canvassing for votes in Johannesburg. It shows a group of ANC supporters gathered outside a spaza shop as her car passes by. One of the supporters extends his middle finger toward her vehicle.
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Source: Briefly News
