African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula stated that the ruling party will not tolerate any demands or calls for the removal of party leader Cyril Ramaphosa. While briefing the media at the National Results Operation Centre in Midrand, Mbalula emphasized that coalition governments have not been effective in South Africa.
He says coalitions bring instability, however, as the party did not get an outright majority, they are open to talks with other parties. “Ramaphosa is the President of the ANC, if you come to us with demands that Ramaphosa step down, that is not going to happen. We are not going to engage with other parties that are not willing to talk with us. We are not going to do that, we have many reservations for the MK Party, but we will talk to them if they want to work with us. No political party will dictate terms for us; that is a no-go area for everyone. You came to us with that demand. Forget.”
Meanwhile, Mbalula says the ruling party is open to engaging with all political parties. The ANC is on course to lose its majority for the first time since it came to power 30 years ago. Mbalula says the ruling party has noted the decline in the party’s support. “We are talking to everybody. We have been approached by political parties, and it’s normal, and the outcome is clear: nobody has an outright majority, so we will talk to everybody. Please don’t distort things by saying we are talking to the DA, MK, and EFF. We are talking to everybody because the election did not give an outright majority, and for those who don’t want to talk, it’s on. We are having an NEC meeting on Tuesday and we will announce these talks.”
