Africa-Press – South-Africa. The ANC has dismissed allegations it approached the MK Party to join the government of national unity (GNU) at the height of the budget impasse with its partner the DA.
This comes after a leaked audio recording purported to be of the MK Party leader Jacob Zuma claiming that the ANC approached his party to join the GNU as part of a plan to ditch the DA in the coalition.
In the recording, Zuma claimed the ANC was trying to get the MK Party to join the GNU.
“They are planning to come and convince me,” he said.
“They said the political party does not belong to an individual. It belongs to all of us. Our members were told to convince me to accept the proposal made by the ANC to have three parties take over the country. Once that happens, they’d take the DA out.
“The fact that we have friends from the enemies who are talking to us and think we can work together, what does that mean? I don’t know.”
The ANC said it has not verified the authenticity of the audio recording, and rejected the claims made.
“The ANC categorically states that it has not approached Zuma or the MK Party to join the GNU,” spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said.
“No such discussions have taken place. These claims, if indeed attributable to Jacob Zuma, are unfounded and misleading.”
The ANC has been transparent about how it conducted GNU engagements in good faith, she said.
“At no point has the ANC engaged in or contemplated any clandestine strategy to marginalise any party that is a constituent of the GNU. Such allegations, unverified and untested, risk misleading the public, sowing confusion and eroding trust.
“They are particularly regrettable when made, or believed to be made, by individuals who have held high office and carry a responsibility to uphold the truth in public discourse.”
Zuma has been fighting to have his ANC membership restored after being expelled last year for ill discipline, after launching his own political party while he was still a member.
“We will not be drawn into battles with individuals who have placed themselves in the service of ego rather than the people,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
“Our focus remains resolutely on delivering for our people — on jobs, on fighting poverty, and on building a more just, equal and nonracial South Africa.”
In the leaked recording, Zuma also spoke about his relationship with former president Thabo Mbeki, saying they have parted ways: “I mention this because it’s real. We disagreed on things we once agreed upon. Our objections were no longer the same.”
He accused certain figures within the ANC of destabilising the party from within: “The people who were recruited into the ANC have become a majority and turned the ANC into something else. Now we cannot agree with those people.”
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