Johannesburg - After promising to look into the allegations of vote buying at the recent 55th ANC National Conference in Nasrec, the ANC’s Electoral Committee said it has been able to reach out to the author of the purported letter, Thabang Mdletshe, who has distanced himself from the contents of the said scathing letter.
On Monday, a letter allegedly written by eThekwini ward 30 branch member and delegate, Thabang Mdletshe, accused President Cyril Ramaphosa, chairperson Gwede Mantashe, and Bejani Chauke of having used money to buy delegates to the conference.
Despite acknowledging the allegations in Mdletshe's letter, Chief Matsila, spokesperson for the Electoral Committee, told SABC news that the purported author has since distanced himself from the letter. He said the allegation and the letter had been identified as fake after he had spoken to Mdletshe on Tuesday evening.
"We have reached out to comrade Thabang regarding the letter via WhatsApp and SMS, but he has since distanced himself from the letter. However, we still take these allegations in a serious light. The branch delegates went to the conference and voted; some candidates wo,n and others lost. All the leaders of the structures are happy with the outcomes of the conference."
"There is nothing to worry about, but we know that there are comrades who are bad losers are the ones responsible for trying to create false stories. This is not the first nor the last time such has happened," Matsila said.
ANC KZN provincial secretary general Bheki Mtolo added his views on the matter, saying there was no letter penned by Mdletshe, who is a known branch chairperson in the region. He said the false existence of this letter is nothing but the work of dark forces.
"Mdletshe has denied having written the letter. We spoke to him, and he indicated that he does not know anything about the letter. This has been done by people who want to undermine the outcomes of the conference," Mtolo said.
Mtolo stated that the province would not investigate the letter's origins because it would be like chasing ghosts.
“We normally do not engage in things that do not exist.The letter is fake and written by faceless people whose intention is to undermine the outcomes of the conference," Mtolo said.
On Tuesday, the ANC’s Electoral Committee (EC) committed itself to investigating allegations and found the letter to be fake. It is not clear if they will be continuing with the investigation.
Matsila stated that they continue to take allegations seriously but will not act on hearsay but rather on concrete evidence if such evidence is discovered. Both Mtolo and Matsila told the SABC that the ANC's electoral committee deals with facts rather than rumours that exist out there.
The existence of the letter by Mdletshe comes more than a week after ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe alluded to incidents of vote buying at the Nasrec conference during an interview with eNCA’s news anchor Tumelo Mothotoane.
"I can tell you. If there is one battle we almost lost, it is the battle and fight against money. You know, in the past, we had this thing where money was used and so forth. This time around, you find people at the branch level, at the regional level phoning you: I have this number of delegates; please give me so much money," Mantashe told Mothotoane.
In the same interview, Mantashe accused a certain ANC member who had campaigned for the treasurer-general positions of having offered money to delegates in order to secure the position. He said it was fortunate that this ANC member was not elected to the top seven structures of the ruling party.
The Star