ANC won't be bullied by ‘small boy’ of the DA, says Mbalula

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has warned the DA that the ANC and its President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be bullied and disrespected by  its leaders who continuously threaten to destabilise the Government of National Unity  (GNU).

Speaking during the 3rd day of the OR Tambo Regional Conference in the Eastern Cape on Sunday, Mbalusa said that the GNU was not a permanent feature but a temporary partnership among all the coalition parties.

 "When the Government of National Unity was formed with the ten political parties, it was not a permanent feature. So, we will not allow our President to be disrespected by his deputy ministers. Even Nelson Mandela fired his own wife. My mother Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela. Mandela took her out of the cabinet.

“Thabo Mbeki as president also did the same when he fired Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.  We can't then be disrespected by a small boy who is being protected by the DA. We are not in a marriage with the DA but we are in a coalition," he said.

He made the remarks a day after DA leader John Steenhuisen announced that the DA would be withdrawing from the National Dialogue over Ramaphosa’s decision to fire one of the party’s members, Andrew Whitfield as Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister. 

Mbalula said those who had accused the ANC of selling out when it partnered with the DA in the GNU would soon realise that the ANC has an upper hand in the coalition.

"They must know one thing. We are not at the mercy of the DA. We are in this coalition because we respected the outcomes of the elections and the interests of the people of South Africa. That is why we have characterised this as a strategic setback.

"It is not a permanent feature.  The GNU is not a melting pot. We did say that there are ten political parties in the GNU and the DA did not want this. Now, I see why they did not want this as they wanted to squeeze us and put us in a corner, but we turned the tables around and we put them in our own trap. Now they are in a deeper trap," he added.

Efforts to reach both DA spokespeople, Willie Aucamp and Karabo Khakhau were  unsuccessful on Sunday.

Cape Times