ANC SG Fikile Mbalula flip-flops on Pravin Gordhan

As ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula furiously back-pedalled yesterday after his threat that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan would be moved if he couldn’t do his job, a political analyst said Mbalula had again “crossed the line”.

The ANC issued a statement yesterday seeking to clarify Mbalula’s comments on Gordhan’s performance after he swiped at him during an address at the ANC Women’s League’s national elective conference on Saturday.

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Non-performing ministers

He hit out at non-performing ministers and premiers and said although the Reserve Bank had left the repo rate unchanged, load shedding and logistics in South Africa had to be fixed.

Mbalula said heavy vehicles should be moved off the road and Gordhan should urgently fix Transnet so freight could be moved by rail, not road.

“That is the policy of the ANC. Comrade Pravin, move faster or otherwise we will move you. Comrade Pravin, move faster at Transnet or otherwise we will move you,” Mbalula said.

The ANC said his words did not amount to a call for Gordhan’s removal but was a “clarion call” to fast-track policy interventions to address SA’s rail and freight logistics challenges.

“Government alone cannot succeed to roll back all these challenges. South Africans from all walks of life have a singular and collective obligation to help the government to craft policy interventions in addressing such challenges,” it stated.

“In so doing, we do not have the luxury of time on our side. We must move with the requisite speed in resolving all these societal challenges that threaten the livelihoods of our people.”

But many believe the problems faced by the transport sector had been there since the time Mbalula was minister of transport.

Former tourism minister Derek Hanekom said: “When you make a statement like this, you need to explain why you are not making a statement on a number of poor-performing ministers. “Are you satisfied with your own performance when you were a minister?” he asked.

Mbalula was minister of transport from 2019 to early 2023. His mandate focused on repairing road and rail infrastructure, particularly to transfer 10% of road freight to rail by the end of the legislative term.

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Mbalula got ‘carried away’

Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Nelson Mandela University director of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution and political analyst, said Mbalula had got carried away.

The first time he had done this as SG was in the Free State (before the ANC’s January birthday celebrations) when he took a swipe at a mayor.

“The ANC kept quiet at that time, but now there is a response. In my view, it’s the responsibility of the SG to make sure there is party discipline and members who are deployed carry the mandate, but he has gone overboard … by being too personal.”

Breakfast said it was important to talk about competency and ministers who had to get the job done in government, but it was not right to single out a specific minister.

“Also, politically, it was not strategic. It was a miscalculation with Mbalula trying to flex his muscles as an SG. It is an embarrassment,” he said.

“The question now is what does it mean when the ANC corrects the SG – what is the meaning of that? It has a meaning. To be corrected like that in public by your political party when you are the one who is supposed to give a strategic direction says a lot. It creates a gap between yourself and the party.”

Breakfast said Mbalula had not done wonders in his transport folio. – lungas@citizen.co.za

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