‘Not clearly defined’ — What ANC leaders are saying about Mashatile’s ‘assassination’ attempt

Some sectors of society have criticised the ANC and the Presidency’s silence on reports of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s alleged assassination attempt.

The reports of the shooting incident emerged on Sunday, three weeks after the incident.

One of Mashatile’s official vehicles was struck by bullets three times while he was travelling home from an ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Boksburg, Gauteng.

The shooting occurred on the N12 highway while the deputy president was inside the vehicle.

On Tuesday, General Fannie Masemola, the national commissioner of the South African Police Service (Saps), confirmed the shooting.

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“Following the incident, an extensive investigation was conducted and is still underway, with the ballistics report already concluded,” said Masemola.

“Crime Intelligence is also continuing with its regular risk and threat assessment on both the president and the deputy president.”

He further confirmed that Mashatile’s security had been beefed up.

“Members of the Presidential Protection Service (PPS) assigned to both the President and the Deputy President are trained to a high level of skill and possess the necessary expertise and capabilities to avert any risk and threat,” said Masemola.

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“The resources assigned to safeguard the executive are also adequate and designed to prevent any direct and imminent threat to their lives.”

Mbalula on Mashatile: ‘Not clearly defined’

Mashatile’s party has yet to release a statement on the shooting. However, some party leaders have commented on the incident, pouring cold water on allegations of an assassination attempt.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said on Wednesday that the ANC was silent on the matter because it is “not yet clearly defined”.

“Firstly, as the ANC, we were not aware until the reports in the media on Sunday. We were taken aback by these reports because neither the Deputy President nor anyone in government informed the ANC about the situation,” said Mbalula.

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“When everyone else wants to define it in a particular way, it becomes a cause for concern for the ANC because we don’t know what happened, we don’t know where this happened, how it happened except that the reports are saying even from the DP himself that this happened during the NEC meeting.

“So we leave it to the police, the capable hands of the police, to inform us. We engaged the minister of police immediately, who then informed Luthuli House that the commissioner of police is seized with the matter. He will report on the matter in the short and long term in terms of the investigations, and we leave it there.”

‘We need to check veracity of reports’

ANC Treasurer-General Dr Gwen Ramokgopa on Tuesday also defended the party’s silence on the matter, saying they would await the outcome of an investigation into the veracity of the reports.

“These reports, many of them are fake, actually. We have seen a lot of fake things, so we have referred this matter to the secretariat to deal with it organisationally,” said Ramokgopa.

“In due course, we will respond. I think it’s only fair to do that because these are serious allegations, and we need to check their veracity and see what can be done. Obviously, once it gets to that, it’s not the responsibility of the movement but of the relevant agencies of the state. We have a process that we go through. It includes verification of facts and ensuring that security agents — police and investigations are given a chance because we are not the government to deal with it.”

Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development Lebogang Maile defended the ANC’s silence and said the leadership had provided guidance on how to handle the incident.

“The ANC leadership at a national level has provided guidance on how the matter of the deputy president attempted ‘assassination’ must be handled. There’s no need to respond to some doctors of common sense. This is not a matter for political posturing and grandstanding,” said Maile on social media on Wednesday.

‘Bulletproof windscreen strong’

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Mashatile said the police were investigating the incident.

“What really happened was that as I was driving, my car was hit. Initially, I thought it was stones. When we got home, the protectors said the impact was too much and that they wanted to take it in for check-in because the bulletproof windscreen is quite strong to be damaged. That’s why they’re doing the investigation.”

ALSO READ: Mashatile insists he’s well protected after vehicle shooting incident

Meanwhile, News24 reports that a ballistics report has found that Mashatile’s vehicle was “likely struck by stray shotgun pellets, not entirely fired upon”.