Corruption in ANC must end – Mantashe

CORRUPTION within the ANC is so rife that it can no longer be regarded as a perception, party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said.

Speaking to party supporters in Evaton‚ south of Johannesburg yesterday, Mantashe warned that corruption could not be allowed to continue as it hampered the government’s ability to deliver services.

“The ANC should not be corrupt and if the ANC is corrupt‚ something has gone wrong,” Mantashe said.

“At this stage‚ we cannot say that it [corruption] is a perception.

“There are people in the ANC who loot the state and when you loot‚ you destroy the ability of the state to deliver services.”

Mantashe was in the area to drum up support ahead of the party’s 105th birthday celebrations, to be held at Orlando Stadium this weekend.

His frank admission struck a cord with the audience‚ with some shouting that they had been reduced to living like farm dwellers without services.

However‚ it was not the first time Mantashe had spoken out against corruption.

He previously blamed the party’s misfortunes in the August elections on corruption.

He acknowledged that not much had been done by the government to develop Evaton.

“We can’t leave Evaton as it is much longer‚ with no streets,” he said.

“We can’t complain that there is no money because there is money but the problem is how do we use it.”

Millions in development funds under the auspices of the Evaton Renewal Project were allocated during the administrations of former Gauteng premiers Mbhazima Shilowa and Nomvula Mokonyane. But this did not appear to have resulted in much change.

Sunday’s celebrations at the Orlando Stadium will also serve to celebrate the 100th birthday of former ANC president Oliver Tambo.

Mantashe warned that persistent corruption within the party could not be allowed to continue because it posed a risk to the legacy of Tambo.