ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has refused to retract or apologize for statements attributed to him regarding Eastern Cape ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi's alleged involvement in tampering with and manipulating the province's list of councillor candidates submitted to the IEC last month. Mbalula's statements were reportedly made in a confidential internal ANC report. The report was presented to ANC officials, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The report allegedly blamed Ngcukayitobi for the party's candidate-list failures in the province. According to the report, Ngcukayitobi submitted the province's final candidate list to the ANC's operations centre at 4:31 pm on August 28, just 29 minutes before the IEC's 5 pm deadline. This short window reportedly left the ANC's data centre with insufficient time to process the provincial list.
Ngcukayitobi's legal team sent a letter threatening to sue Mbalula for defamation over statements allegedly holding their client responsible for the province's failure to submit its lists on time. The lawyers gave Mbalula until midday on Tuesday to retract what they described as "falsehoods" about the provincial secretary's alleged role in the ANC's candidate-list debacle.
Mbalula missed Tuesday's deadline but, in a reply sent to Ngcukayitobi's legal team on Wednesday morning, denied defaming Ngcukayitobi and refused to retract the alleged statements. Mbalula's legal team, led by Salman Patel of SM Patel Attorneys Inc, instead called on Ngcukayitobi to provide evidence supporting his claims.
Mbalula's legal team requested that Ngcukayitobi provide a complete copy of the alleged report and confirm its source, when and from whom Ngcukayitobi obtained it, and the factual basis upon which it is alleged that Mbalula authored, prepared or caused its publication. They also requested that Ngcukayitobi identify precisely when, where, to whom and by what means Mbalula is alleged to have published the statements complained of.
Ngcukayitobi's attorney, Eric Mabuza, confirmed on Wednesday morning that he had received Mbalula's response to the demand letter. Mabuza confirmed that Mbalula had missed Tuesday's deadline to retract the alleged statements and apologize to his client. He said he was still studying the response and would take instructions on how to proceed with the matter.
Mbalula's legal team indicated that he would oppose any lawsuit instituted against him by Ngcukayitobi. The outcome of the matter remains uncertain, with Ngcukayitobi's legal team set to advise on the next steps.
Key points
- Mbalula refuses to retract claims against Ngcukayitobi
- Ngcukayitobi's legal team threatens to sue Mbalula for defamation
- Mbalula's team requests evidence from Ngcukayitobi to support his claims
