Niehaus does not speak for the ANC – Mbalula
“ANC has got no view to take land of Zulu nation”
The ANC yesterday distanced itself from an apology made by the party’s former spokesman Carl Niehaus during an imbizo called by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini in KwaZulu-Natal.
At the gathering on Wednesday‚ Niehaus apologised to the monarch on behalf of the ANC‚ and lashed out at those he said sought to interfere in the management of the Ingonyama Trust.
“Carl Niehaus has got no such mandate. He is an MKMVA [Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association] spokesperson. The ANC will speak for itself. The ANC did not mandate him to go and speak on its behalf and go and apologise,” ANC elections head Fikile Mbalula said. “This thing of people speaking as if they are mandated by the organisation must come to an end.”
Mbalula was speaking ahead of Presi- dent Cyril Ramaphosa’s two-day visit to KZN for the rollout of the Thuma Mina campaign amid tensions relating to expropriation of land without compensation‚ particularly the Ingonyama Trust.
Under current legislation‚ Zwelithini is the sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust.
Mbalula said the party had not taken a position on the matter and was neither for or against the dissolution of the Ingonyama Trust. “The ANC has got no view to take any land in the hands of the Zulu nation, the ANC has never formulated a view. We will engage with the king to articulate this and make the position of the ANC very clear. The ANC president will lead that process‚” he said.
The party further distanced itself from comments by its former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe that traditional leaders were “village tinpot dictators”.
“The views he expressed are not views of the ANC,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC would also meet with traditional leaders through the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA to clarify its stance on land.