In what is likely to rattle cages in the ANC, embattled former minister Malusi Gigaba has delivered a stinging rebuke of the party’s national executive committee (NEC), saying it has failed in its objectives.
Gigaba, who rose to infamy under former president Jacob Zuma and has been branded a state-capture enabler and Gupta associate, sat down with the Sunday Times for the first time since his unceremonious resignation from the government in 2018.
He was one of the most nefarious figures in former chief justice Raymond Zondo’s state capture report, credited with opening the gates for the Gupta family to infiltrate state-owned entities — claims he has strenuously denied.
“The allegations against me were deliberately crafted, deliberately made and very well targeted,” he said. “They were also very deliberately sustained to diminish my standing and political future. But they’re not going to succeed. As I have said many times before, those who are headed into the future must know they will find me in that future. There’s no way I’m going to go away. I’m a problem that refuses to die.”
Zondo instructed law enforcement agencies to investigate and possibly charge Gigaba with corruption and racketeering. His report found that Gigaba had enabled the Gupta family to loot Transnet, and the former minister was also alleged to have benefited financially from the Gupta criminal enterprise.
Despite this, Gigaba has managed to make a comeback, having been appointed chair of parliament’s joint standing committee on defence.
While his reputation has taken a battering, he has been able to sustain his position in the ANC as one of its longest-standing NEC members, and he is largely respected by his peers in the ANC’s highest decision-making body.
In this week’s interview with the Sunday Times, Gigaba came out as the first ANC leader to publicly criticise the party.
I think the DA isn’t committed to [transformation]. They’ve demonstrated it time and time again, and they insult the ANC at every opportunity they get.
He said the NEC was working under extremely difficult conditions, facing a number of challenges related to the geopolitical environment. These affected the committee’s capacity to lead the democratic transition in South Africa, consolidate the democratic project, and deliver on the objectives of the national democratic revolution.
“I don’t think we would say, if you asked us today, that we are doing [enough] and are succeeding in that regard, because if that were the case the current splits that are happening in our society would not be taking place.
“Ideally, the ANC is the political representative of the black majority and all white democrats. They should all find expression in it and belong in it ... And so the ANC is no longer the parliament of the people of South Africa, except in [name]. If we were sincere in undertaking our responsibility, we would not be so inward-looking [and] self-absorbed. We would be focused on this historical responsibility we have to unite South Africa, to unite [the] black majority, to unite the African people.”
He said the ANC should consider another Morogoro-type conference to enable it to engage in “candid self-reflection”.
“I do not think we are ready for [that]. I think we are [too] preoccupied with our little corners, our little groupings. There doesn’t seem to exist the possibility for us to get up briefly from these little groupings, so that we can now discuss what is ... in the best interest of our country, of our movement, of our people, so that we achieve a postcolonial society. And until we are ready to do that, I think we are failing in our duty,” he said.
While Gigaba is the first NEC member to publicly speak out against the body, the Sunday Times understands Andile Lungisa made similar statements during the recent NEC meeting, even going so far as to call for its disbandment.
National working committee (NWC) member Mdumiseni Ntuli was also critical of the structure responsible for the day-to-day running of the party during its recent meeting. In July, the Sunday Times reported that Ntuli, who leads the ANC parliamentary caucus, told the NWC, with President Cyril Ramaphosa in attendance, that the body had lost steam.
Gigaba said there had been a decline in the quality of debate in the NEC. He said the divisions in the structure had resulted in debates being centred on factional battles. He said the deterioration had also been felt at the 2022 elective conference, where the body failed to conclude conference business and instead focused on leadership elections.
NEC members have been divided over the inclusion of the DA in the government of national unity (GNU). Tensions with the DA resulted in the structure’s resolution to expand the GNU to DA-proof it, after the budget impasse.
Gigaba said he was one of the NEC members who thought the GNU should have excluded the DA.
“I still hold that view, even now. I don’t think that there’s anything that justifies why we are working with them. I think we would work better with other political organisations, including [the] EFF. The principles that were established for me were not sufficient, and I remain firm in that view.
“I think the overriding principle should be commitment to the fundamental transformation of our country. And I think those who are co-operating should be committed to that. I think the DA isn’t committed to it. They’ve demonstrated it time and time again, and they insult the ANC at every opportunity they get,” he said.
Gigaba was known as a strong defender of Zuma when he was state president. He once lashed out at ANC veterans, including former Robin Island political prisoner Ahmed Kathrada, for ill-discipline for calling for Zuma to step down during the state capture era.
Gigaba said he respected Zuma as a former leader of the ANC and a liberation fighter.
“I disagree with the approach he has taken [forming the MK Party and contesting elections against the ANC], but I have not lost respect for him as a leader, as a struggle veteran, as a father, as an elder.
“I am disappointed because the effect of what [he has done] is that the ANC has been forced into an unnecessary coalition with [certain] elements, some of which I believe [we] ought not to have [partnered with]. So the effect has been severe,” he said.
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