The ANC will have to explain itself if it wants me to vacate my positions – Mantashe

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe says the ANC will have to explain itself to him if it wanted him to vacate his positions over his implication in possible criminal conduct by the Zondo report into state capture.

Mantashe visited Ngcobo, Chris Hani, in the Eastern Cape,  at the weekend where he was addressing party members alongside provincial convener Oscar Mabuyane.

Mantashe said ANC members were calling him to “be put to the cross” over the report despite “Barry White” (Zondo) having not found evidence of criminal conduct on his part in his report despite recommending that he be further investigated for possible prima facie case.

He said while he would not wage a fight if he were to be told to step aside from his position in the party and in government, he would question the party on the basis for his removal.

“If the ANC says I must step aside, I will not hire buses and say I will not step aside. But I will ask the party why I must step aside just because there are still investigations into a case I may have. I will ask the ANC but I will not resist,” he said.

Mantashe, who indicated that he would not avail himself as the party’s chairperson for the second term, is expected to contest for the deputy president position and the Eastern Cape is among the provinces he expected support from to return to the top six.

Mantashe warned Mabuyane and his faction not to be over confident about the upcoming conference later this month despite claims that he had the majority support from branches to secure a second term.

Mabuyane, who, like Mantashe,  hails from Chris Hani,  will battle it out with former provincial treasurer Babalo Madikizela and deputy speaker of legislature Mlibo Qoboshiyane.

Mantashe made reference to the disappointment his faction suffered in the 2017 national elective conference when the party’s head of organising Senzo Mchunu lost the secretary-general position he contested to now suspended incumbent Ace Magashule by a small margin despite their expectation that he would win.

“Over confidence translates to complacency. We once went to Nasrec and someone was called and taken to the stage and someone else won by a small margin and he had to leave the stage. That happens in a conference. You cannot win a conference before it takes place,” Mantashe said.

The Chris Hani region is expected to hold its elective conference on March 18 ahead of the provincial conference next month.

Mantashe said ANC structures had to select leaders who would be able to deal with the party’s declining electoral support, which saw it dipping below 50% in last year’s municipal elections.

He said the party was at the risk of being booted out of power in 2024 if there was no positive change in its electoral support. “If that was a general election, the ANC would be out of power in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.

Mantashe lamented that many within the party were factional beyond the party’s conferences, which he said contributed to the party’s decline at the polls.

Mabuyane cried foul at alleged manipulation of ANC membership ahead of the heavily contested conference.