The African National Congress on Friday lashed out at media reports, including a Mail & Guardian report, during the course of the week relating to the meeting of its national executive committee (NEC) and its approach to the hoax e-mails investigated by the inspector general of intelligence.
“It is a matter of concern that a number of these reports rely so heavily on anonymous sources who seem intent on selling a particular fiction,” the ANC said in a statement.
It said the latest in this series of fabrications is an article that appeared in Friday’s edition of the Mail & Guardian claiming there is a rift between ANC president Thabo Mbeki and secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe on this matter.
The M&G reported that the ANC e-mail spy saga widened the ugly developing rift between Mbeki and Motlanthe, and that the differences over the authenticity of the e-mails are seen as a microcosm of a new struggle between the two.
“The ANC’s NEC meeting at the weekend marked the intensification of the battle, with Motlanthe insisting that the party should not rely on a government-conducted probe into the messages, which purportedly implicated senior ANC leaders in a conspiracy against him,” the report said.
“Although the Cabinet accepted the findings of an investigation by Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani, Motlanthe asserted ANC hegemony over that of a state-appointed Mbeki-approved body.”
On Friday, the ANC said this assertion is “false and without any basis”.
“The fact of the matter, which was reflected in the NEC statement of March 26 2006, is that the members of the ANC NEC are in agreement on the need for an internal ANC process on this matter in so far as it affects the ANC,” the party said.
“In order to execute a mandate from the NEC, a task team has been established to deal with the matter. There is no disagreement between the ANC president and secretary general on this issue.”
The party said it is a matter of concern that its internal processes are so blatantly “misrepresented” in the media.
“It should equally be a matter of concern to those media institutions who take their journalistic responsibilities seriously that they continue to peddle falsehoods as news.”