Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
Following heavy backlash from fellow African National Congress (ANC) members, Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina has come out to clarify reports that he is calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to “step aside” amid the corruption allegations brewing against some members in the party.
Masina has recently been calling for ANC members facing fraud and corruption charges to step down from their official positions, in accordance with a resolution taken at the ANC’s Nasrec conference in 2017.
Ramaphosa is facing corruption allegations regarding his CR17 campaign, with a pending case on the cards.
It was reported that Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign received more than R400 million in donations. The party’s integrity committee had already been approached to discuss the matter.
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The mayor had previously said Ramaphosa was wrong to accuse the ANC of being corrupt, and that the party should act consistently against corruption, which prompted responses from Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni and Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu.
Meanwhile, Mthembu and Mboweni have called Masina to “correct himself” or “order” after his repeated anti-corruption protests, and the mayor maintains that the ministers are misinformed about what he said.
“Both ministers Mboweni and Mthembu are misinformed about what I said when I staged an anti-corruption picket. I have assisted them by sharing the clip of what I said and they both understand how I’ve answered the question posed.
“In the first instance, I never said Ramaphosa must step aside; instead I said no one is above the ANC, if the president has fraud and corruption matters before the courts, then he too, like the rest of the membership, must step aside.
“It’s a principled stance as no one is bigger then the organisation, so those who know his matters are best qualified to say there are or not matters before the courts regarding corruption, and I’m not one of them,” Masina told The Citizen.
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Masina also clarified claims where he reportedly said in 2017 that he would refuse to keep serving as mayor should Ramaphosa become president and said he was “tired of the media always getting away with lies”.
“I’ve never said I’ll resign when Ramaphosa becomes the president. When the stories appeared I released a statement to the media, but you continue asserting I once said so and for the record, I did not join the ANC for any individual and I will not abdicate my responsibilities for a person.
“As a matter of fact I have a very good relationship with President Ramaphosa and no amount of social media bullying will succeed in tarnishing our political relationship.
“The fact that I voted for (Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was a choice and I don’t regret it, but I equally respect Ramaphosa as an elected leader of the ANC,” he added.
The matter had prompted the ANC to release a statement rebuking Masina for his stance, calling on its leaders to be mindful of what they post and to keep in mind that nationalising the economy was not ANC policy.
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The mayor also said he had not been not implicated in any corruption and welcomed those who may have any allegations against him.
“I’m not implicated in any matter, hence I staged a one million march alone against corruption. If you have any accusation against me bring them on, I’ll answer you.
“I’m against any form of corruption regardless who committed it, so if anyone brings any allegations of corruption against me I’ll be able to answer without any fear. I dislike corruption and I think it has a potential of killing the ANC,” he further said.
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