ANC not damaged by honest criticism, says Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has defended comments made by ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe and President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying the party is not afraid to confront its own weaknesses in public.

- HOPE NTANZI [e-mail]

The remarks, made separately by the two senior leaders, sparked surprise and concern from both within the party and among members of the public.

Mantashe recently said that the ANC lacks capacity to manage municipalities, stating: "We are very good on singing, but very bad on capacity."

He was addressing ANC councillors during the party's nationwide "roll call" event, aimed at accelerating service delivery with accountability ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

"I know that we have a lot of singing councillors, but we have no councils. We all sing well, but capacity dololo," Mantashe said.

"That is the council we have. Comrades who are councillors, leaders of the ANC, who make noise when a meeting is underway. What kind of leadership is that?"

Ramaphosa, speaking at the same event at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, urged ANC members to learn from municipalities that are performing better, many of which are governed by the Democratic Alliance.