09 April 2019. Fikile Mbalula on 702 | Image: Twitter
Despite ANC elections head Fikile Mbalula being known for his boisterous personality, 702 listeners couldn’t help but note how docile he was doing his highly anticipated interview with Eusebius McKaiser.
Mbalula was the latest guest in a series of political figures featured in pre-election interviews aimed at providing potential voters with access to the representatives of the parties vying for their vote.
As a representative of the ANC, Mbalula touched on the economy, Eskom, and his party’s 25 years in power, but it was his statements on Ace Magashule, or lack thereof, that caught listeners’ attention.
In mid-2017, Mbalula tweeted and later deleted: “Ace Magashule is a definite no no no, the man will finish what is remaining of our movement. He will kill it.”
When quizzed about his statement shortly after the tweet was sent, Mbalula stood by his utterances and even insisted that his account had not been hacked.
He followed those tweets with calls for the ANC Youth League to mobilise for then ANC Gauteng deputy chairperson David Makhura to replace former ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who stepped down from his position at the end of 2017.
“If somebody asked, I’ll say David Makhura will make a good secretary-general for the ANC. #thinking beyond factions,” added Mbalula in a follow-up tweet.
Mbalula’s call to rally behind Makhura to become Mantashe’s successor fell on deaf ears as Magashule was elected SG of the ANC in 2017.
As a result, a number of listeners pressed on for McKaiser to ask Mbalula what has happened since and whether or not Mbalula still stood by his statements.
“He is the secretary general of the ANC and a book has been produced about him. What I know is that books have been produced before about individuals and those individuals are still leaders because those allegations that have been brought against them have not been tested,” began Mbalula.
When asked directly about his feelings towards Magashule and the allegations levelled against him, Mbalula passed the buck to the party’s integrity committee.
He refused to be drawn on his personal opinion of Magashule but said that he did not regret sending the tweets as they were “critical tweets about an individual”.
Listen to the full interview here.
READ NEXT: Magashule says he holds no grudges against Mbalula
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