Manuel tells of Mbalula’s tearful admission to NEC

Fikile Mbalula’s weepy admission that he was summoned to the Gupta family’s Saxonwold home and informed he would be made sports and recreation minister took centre stage at the state capture inquiry on Thursday.

Mbalula is said to have admitted, in an August 2011 meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee, that he had been informed by one of the Gupta brothers of his impending appointment.

Two people who were present at the meeting, former cabinet ministers Trevor Manuel and Siphiwe Nyanda, both recalled the incident in their testimony to the inquiry.

Manuel’s testimony also outlined constitutional prescripts which state that only the president has the executive authority to appoint and fire members of his cabinet, and that, in the past, it was the trend that nobody without the authority was informed of the president’s cabinet-related decisions.

“My recollection of that NEC was that there was a tense discussion about the influence of the Guptas,” Manuel said.

“Among the issues that emerged from the floor is why were the Guptas as influential as they were.

“What Mbalula said was that when he was called to Saxonwold, he went there and was told he was going to be appointed as minister of sports and recreation.

“He was first very excited about making it into [the] cabinet, but [felt] in retrospect it should never have been the Guptas or anybody else who told him that.

“It was the prerogative of the president.”

Mbalula was promoted by then president Jacob Zuma to head the department of sports and recreation in October 2010, a day after he apparently visited the Guptas’ home.

Nyanda corroborated much of Manuel’s evidence.

“What was remarkable to me was that Mbalula made this revelation,” Nyanda said.

“It was actually a criticism of the way in which he had been informed about his impending appointment.

“He was, in other words, disturbed by it.”

Mbalula said that there was no lie in Manuel’s testimony and that he would, in fact, go to the commission to corroborate it.

“An impression must never be created that I am dicey,” he said.