ANC begs Msimang to stay
● The ANC was last night engaged in talks to convince party veteran Mavuso Msimang,
pictured, to rescind his resignation.
Party insiders said veterans spent the past few days trying to persuade Msimang to retract the resignation letter sent to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula this week.
The negotiations were led by veterans’ league president Snuki Zikalala. Mbalula said he was aware of the talks.
Msimang last night confirmed the talks. “I’m talking to my comrades. I feel their hurt and they are sincere.”
He said he wasn’t sure when an announcement will be made on whether he remains in the ANC or not.
“Well if I left, I will then have to apply for membership. Somebody will have to readmit me. I’m not sure at this stage.
“If I apply [for membership] they will decide whether they want to take me back or not. Any announcement will depend on whether the person who holds the key to the gates, thinks it [accepting my readmission] makes sense or not.”
Msimang said if it wasn’t for the leaking of his bombshell resignation letter, there wouldn’t be a furore around his resignation. He said the letter was leaked two hours after he sent it to Mbalula’s office.
It is believed Msimang had set conditions, including implementing party resolutions such as the step- aside rule.
Msimang was the deputy president of the ANC Veterans’ League. He is known for his outspokenness and has been a vocal critic of the ruling party.
His exit sparked speculation about his next move – and whether he would join a political party.
In his resignation letter, Msimang described ANC rule as a calamity that he could no longer invest his energies in.
“When we took over the government in 1994, we had the moral high ground, and the conviction we would be able to root out the old-boy networks that had benefited from, and strangled, the apartheid economy. Yet, three decades later, the ANC’s own track record of corruption is a cause of great shame. The corruption we once decried is now part of our movement’s DNA. This has had dire consequences for the most vulnerable members of our society.