Sisulu still wants Cyril to respond
MEMBERS of the government party’s National Executive Council and Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu regretted the leaking of her letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa but still demanded he responds.
Sisulu wrote a letter asking Ramaphosa to “look into the allegations made about the formation of the Congress of the People (Cope) and ANC veteran Trevor Manuel, former minister of finance Tito Mboweni, current Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, and former president Thabo Mbeki who were alleged to be instrumental in the creation of the party.
“It’s regrettable that a letter that was hand-delivered was leaked. Anyway, Minister Sisulu is awaiting a response from the president,” said Sisulu’s spokesperson, Steve Motale.
The ANC’s head of presidency, Sibongile Besani, said that the letter should be received formally and processed so that a decision would be taken. “As a matter of principle, the ANC had always investigated its leaders who are accused of forming other political parties. The ANC did so with regards to the suspended secretary-general (Ace Magashule) when it was alleged that he was part of founding the ATM in around 2019,” said Besani.
In a statement yesterday, Cope defended Mbeki, Manuel, Mboweni, and Godongwana, and refuted claims they were members or advisers of the party. “We want to put the record straight. The allegations reported in the media that former president Thabo Mbeki was a member or adviser of Cope are nothing but malice. Those allegations are far from the truth. We want to put it categorically clear that former president Mbeki was never a member or an adviser of Cope.”