ANC apologises to Gordhan, Mchunu

The ANC apologised on Thursday to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and the party’s head of organising and NEC member, Senzo Mchunu, after criticising them for comments made about black engineers at Eskom.

In a statement released on Wednesday‚ the ANC attacked Gordhan and Mchunu for alleged comments on black professionals which “were neither warranted nor acceptable”.

The pair were accused of making disparaging remarks about black engineers at the parastatal.

Now‚ shortly after Gordhan had demanded an apology from the ANC‚ his political bosses backtracked and said they were sorry.

“The ANC‚ following a thorough investigation on statements attributed to [Gordhan and Mchunu] has established their remarks were taken out of context.

“The ANC extends an unreserved apology to both Cde Mchunu and Cde Gordhan for its statement issued following these media reports.

“The ANC acknowledges the importance of constructive engagement with all professionals, including black engineers and the Black Management Forum‚” acting spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

The backtrack came after Gordhan slammed a statement by Luthuli House that rebuked his and Mchunu’s comments.

In a fiery letter written to ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule‚ Gordhan said: “I want to state emphatically that I have not made any public statements diminishing the status of black engineers.”

In parliament on Thursday‚ Gordhan urged Eskom engineers not to be sidetracked by “fake news from previous managers of Eskom”.

He said Eskom was looking to recruit all “new generation” engineers.