IT DOESN'T RAIN BUT POURS FOR GWEDE — COSATU, ANCYL AND ANCWL ALL TURN ON MANTASHE
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
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JOHANNESBURG —It doesn't rain but pours for Gwede Mantashe.
In one week, the ANC National Chairperson — the man who is supposed to be the guardian of discipline, the elder, the unifier — has been humiliated by Cosatu, rebuked by his own Youth League, and dragged to disciplinary action by the Women's League.
Three structures. Three blows. One man in the storm.
And for those who remember history, this is not new. In 2016, the ANCYL already took a swipe at Mantashe when he was Secretary General, telling him: "If he wants to resign he must do so alone." Ten years later, the same song is playing — only louder.
It started in Kempton Park, at Cosatu's National Congress.
Mantashe walked out because he was told he would speak first.
According to TimesLIVE, the programme had Mantashe first, followed by the SACP and SANCO. Mantashe insisted on speaking last, claiming it has "long been tradition" for the ANC to speak last. Cosatu said NO.
When organisers refused to rearrange their own congress to suit him, Mantashe walked out. Workers did not clap. They were angry.
Cosatu Second Deputy President Duncan Luvuno told eNCA the federation will now haul the ANC leadership into a meeting to address Mantashe's "big brother syndrome."
"After this congress, we are going to make a point that we are meeting with the ANC to express our disappointment and reject the issue of the 'big brother' syndrome we are seeing that the chair of the ANC is showing," Luvuno said.
"We are having a problem with behavioural patterns which are consistent with the chair."
Luvuno said workers were unhappy because Mantashe's behaviour is "anti-ANC."
Cosatu is not a branch of the ANC. It is a founding ally, with its own constitution, its own congress, its own right to decide its programme.
You cannot walk into a workers' congress and demand that 2,000 workers rearrange their schedule to flatter you.
On Monday, the workers refused.Then came the blow from inside his own house.ANC Youth League President Collen Malatji publicly called Mantashe to order.Speaking on the campaign trail in the Eastern Cape, Malatji posted a video captioned: "Walking out of conference was irresponsible."
"The ANC must always present itself as an honest organisation even if we are dissatisfied with certain things. We can't decide for Cosatu who must speak when and at what time. The incident that happened was unfortunate," Malatji said.
"We'll have a session with the national chairperson to understand what fully informed that. He is presenting us as an arrogant organisation."
Malatji even apologised to Cosatu and called on the ANC President to urgently intervene.Think about that. The Youth League apologising for the National Chairperson. The youth disciplining the elder.
And history is repeating itself. In 2016, then ANCYL Secretary General Njabulo Nzuza also hit out at Mantashe after he said it would be easier for some in the party to resign. The ANCYL said then: No, we will not resign, you resign alone. We want an early conference for all NEC members to account.
Then as now, the Youth League is saying: You do not own the ANC.
Then came the third storm — and the heaviest. According to IOL, the ANC Women's League has called for disciplinary action against Mantashe and demanded a public apology over remarks he made when questioned about alleged sex-for-jobs practices.
A journalist from Newzroom Afrika questioned him about allegations that a councillor in a mining town had demanded sexual favours from women seeking employment.
Instead of condemning the alleged practice, Mantashe dismissed the question, saying it was not an ANC issue and making remarks the Women's League described as "gratuitously improper" and derogatory.
ANCWL Secretary-General Nokuthula Nqaba said the league was "deeply disturbed."
"Therefore, the ANC Women's League apologises to the Newzroom journalist and calls on Comrade Gwede Mantashe to issue a public apology to both the journalist and the public for his inappropriate remarks," Nqaba said.
"We also call for him to be subjected to organisational disciplinary action — in response to his repeated insults and attacks on women and the ANCWL reject the use of his age to excuse his dishonourable conduct."
"We call on the ANC leadership to reprimand Comrade Mantashe."
The League reminded Mantashe that he holds national office in an organisation with "a tradition, a culture and foundational principles of respect and dignity of all" — an organisation founded in a church, built on non-sexism, equality, revolutionary morality and moral regeneration.
His job as an elder, they said, is to guide and support women — not to insult them.
This latest crisis did not come from nowhere. In September, Mantashe faced backlash during an ANC door-to-door campaign in Freedom Park, Johannesburg, when a video showed him asking a resident whether her grandchildren received the Child Support Grant and who provided it.
Critics accused him of using government benefits to pressure voters ahead of the November 4 local government elections. Mantashe rejected accusations of vote-buying, defending the ANC's record on social grants and housing.
But the damage was done. The image stuck: A chairperson using grants to campaign, instead of using service delivery.
Put it all together and the picture is clear. Cosatu says: Stop the big brother syndrome. ANCYL says: Stop presenting us as arrogant. ANCWL says: Stop insulting women. Apologise. Face discipline.
Three pillars of the movement — workers, youth, women — all saying the same thing at the same time: Gwede, you have gone too far.
Mantashe has hit back, saying Malatji is "too young to understand alliance traditions." But that defence only makes it worse. It sounds like exactly what Cosatu accused him of: Arrogance. Big brother. "I know, you don't."
The man who is supposed to hold the ANC together is now the man pulling it apart — just days before local government elections where the ANC cannot afford a divided alliance.
For Gwede Mantashe, the storm is not over. The ANC President has been asked to intervene. Cosatu wants a meeting. ANCYL wants a session. ANCWL wants discipline.
The question now is not whether it will rain again.The question is: Can Gwede survive the flood?
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