They dished out wads of cash for votes at Nasrec, says ANC veteran – report

A former KwaZulu-Natal MEC and deputy speaker, Meshack Radebe, claims that large amount of cash was dished out at the governing party’s 2017 electoral conference at Nasrec, according to a report on IOL.

“In the hotel where I was staying, the cash was given out at the foyer. Delegates would come in buses to collect cash,” Radebe said.

“One of the leaders who was giving out money is now a minister. Delegates were each counting R5,000, R3,000, R4,000. Others were complaining that the money they had received was not enough.”

According to Radebe, what he saw led to his resignation as an ANC politician.

“When I returned from Nasrec, I said I am resigning, because what I saw there I could not stomach; but the leadership, including Nxamalala (former president Jacob Zuma) pleaded with me not to leave until after the elections,” he said.

Back in 2014, Radebe himself was linked to the ANC’s alleged attempt to buy votes in a different way – by attempting to leverage social grants for the loyalty of potential voters.

He came under fire for saying those who received social welfare grants but voted for opposition political parties were stealing from the government.

READ MORE: ANC abusing your cash to buy votes

“Nxamalala has increased grants, but there are people who are stealing them by voting for opposition parties,” he was quoted as saying.

“If you are in the opposition, you are like a person who comes to my house, eats my food and then insults me.”

Radebe, who was previously the province’s social development MEC before becoming deputy speaker, warned those who wanted to vote for other parties to “stay away from the grant”.

His comments were made in Zuma’s presence.

MEC spokesperson Jeffrey Zikhali said at the time: “Unfortunately what he said has become a political storm and taken out of context making headlines and triggering rigorous debates in social media.”

Zikhali said that Radebe was speaking in vernacular in his delivery.

“It is unfortunate and mischievous that the journalists who were at the venue did not request the MEC to explain what he meant during the event or try to contact his office,” said Zikhali.

According to him, the MEC actually said: “Even if you hate the current government, you will continue to receive government grants, pensions and services because South Africa is a democratic country.”

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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