WAR HAS BEGUN: LAMOLA, MBALULA GO NUCLEAR ON NDZ OVER "DAMAGING" 2017 VOTE-BUYING CLAIMS
- Mpho Dube
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
“Why now?” Top Ramaphosa allies threaten legal action 9 years after Nasrec. Allegations reopen ANC’s deepest wounds 90 days before elections
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
JOHANNESBURG— The war has begun. And the gloves are off.
Nine years after the ANC’s bloodiest conference battle, the ghosts of Nasrec 2017 have exploded back into public view — with two of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s most senior lieutenants threatening legal action against party veteran Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma over explosive vote-buying allegations.
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola and ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula this week issued blistering denials after Dlamini-Zuma, on the African Renaissance Podcast with Dr Ndlozi on 3 August, linked them to money politics at the 54th and 55th National Conferences.
The timing is incendiary. With 90 days to the 4 November local elections and the ANC fighting for survival against Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, the public spat threatens to tear open factional wounds the party has tried to bury.
"WHY NOW?"
Dlamini-Zuma is no ordinary member. She is Ramaphosa’s 2017 rival, who lost the ANC presidency by 179 votes. She is the ex-wife of former President Jacob Zuma, who now leads the MK Party — the ANC’s biggest threat at the polls.
Both Lamola and Mbalula are seen as key architects of the Ramaphosa project. Mpumalanga, Lamola’s province, played a decisive role in 2017 by swinging late to Ramaphosa. Mbalula was elected SG in 2022 on a pro-Ramaphosa slate.
In an open letter posted to X, Lamola said he was approaching Dlamini-Zuma "in a comradely manner" but with deep disappointment.
"These comments seek to associate my name with alleged vote-buying activities during the ANC's 54th National Conference in 2017," he wrote.
"Let me be unequivocal: I categorically deny any involvement in vote-buying, whether through phone calls, voice notes, or any other medium, during that conference or at any other time."
Lamola attached a 2:04 audio clip to his post and dismissed it outright: "Furthermore, my voice and manner of speech are well known to many comrades, and any fair-minded person can clearly discern that the voice in question is not mine."
But he warned of consequences: "I trust that you will do the honourable thing: publicly retract the statement and offer an apology, in the spirit of unity, discipline, and respect that our movement demands. As it would pain me to take legal action against an ANC veteran with distinguished struggle credentials."
"It is not in my nature to turn every political disagreement into a courtroom battle," he added, urging that internal ANC mechanisms be exhausted first.
Hours later, Mbalula released a statement titled "On the remarks concerning the use of money at the National Conferences of the ANC."
"I Fikile Mbalula, deny these allegations in their entirety. I did not distribute money to delegates, at the facility referred to as the clinic or anywhere else, to procure my own election or the election of any other comrade."
He called Dlamini-Zuma’s remarks a "wound so deeply" that he "cannot allow them to stand unanswered."
Mbalula defended the legitimacy of the 2022 conference that elected him: "I was elected at the 55th National Conference at NASREC in December 2022 freely and fairly, by the delegates of the branches voting by secret ballot as Rule 12.3 of our Constitution requires... Not one branch, not one region, not one province and not one League challenged that declaration then, and none has challenged it in the years since."
Then the legal threat: "I have consulted with my attorneys to seek clarity from Cde Dlamini-Zuma on her very damaging and painful allegations against my person."
He also pointed to the Integrity Commission as the proper forum: "Where any member holds information about wrongdoing, the doors of this organization are open to them."
Both leaders ended with a plea to focus on the elections.
"My appeal to all comrades and to all South Africans is that we do not permit this to distract us from the work the people have set us: to go to every ward, every street and every home, and to win the local government elections of 4 November 2026," Mbalula said.
The ANC is celebrating 114 years while hemorrhaging support to MK in KZN and Gauteng. This is not just about Nasrec. This is about who controls the narrative going into 2026 and who will lead the ANC in 2027.
Dlamini-Zuma had not responded to both statements by the time of going to print.
