President Jacob Zuma.
This is the second time in as many months that the ANC has had to correct inaccurate, fictional and frankly malicious reporting intended to harm the image of the ANC and its leadership, led by President Jacob Zuma, by the Mail & Guardian ("Zuma's foes pay the price of unity", June 7).
We are neither surprised nor perturbed by these articles: this assault on the ANC is nothing but a continuation of a practice that seeks to discredit the leadership collective elected in Mangaung.
We respond, therefore, to these allegations about purging in the organisation guided by the recognition that the ideological battle is being waged through market and political forces that seek to dislodge the democratic forces as drivers of change. Mediums such as the M&G seek to weaken the mass democratic movement, stopping at nothing, including publishing baseless fabrications. The ANC will not rest until the media consciously and deliberately exercises its obligation to report truthfully, accurately and fairly, as demanded by the South African Press Code.
The Free State: South Africa prides itself on its robust labour-relations legislation, designed to safeguard the livelihood of all workers. It is, therefore, improbable that anyone in this country would be dismissed or suspended on the basis of perceived factional battles in the ANC.
To publish blanket statements about so-called purging, without verifying the facts, is indicative of a worrying tendency to elevate rumour-mongering to news. The M&G relies on the disgruntled leader of a political grouping as an authority in the province, negating objective and factual reporting.
Gauteng: The provincial executive committee (PEC) of the South African Communist Party in Gauteng has distanced itself from the "malicious and slanderous claims" of the M&G. As the national executive committee (NEC) of the ANC, we confirm that there is no truth to the allegation that the NEC seeks to usurp the powers of the PEC in the election. We have full confidence in the province to deliver an overwhelmingly victory in 2014.
Limpopo: The provincial task team of the ANC and the national task team of the ANC Youth League engaged extensively with relevant structures before deciding to disband regions of the ANC and the provincial executive committee of the youth league. Instead of lauding a thorough and transparent process, the M&G makes a desperate attempt to claim it was a purge, whereas the organisation has applied itself to the reasons advanced during consultation and reached the conclusion that, in line with the mandates given to the task teams, the disbandment will strengthen the organisation and help rebuild our structures.
North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape: The M&G says the ANC has colluded with the SAPS and the judicial system as a whole to fight factional battles for or against Comrades China Dodovu, Papiki Baboile, Mike Mabuyakhulu, Peggy Nkonyeni and John Block. Not only does the paper insult the ANC, but it also, more ominously, accuses it of collusion in defeating the ends of justice, in effect undermining the very foundation of our criminal justice system. The ANC continues to regard these comrades as innocent before the law until proven guilty. We challenge the M&G to provide evidence of illegal acts to the relevant authorities so they may act decisively against those implicated.
These often-touted and never-challenged allegations of the abuse of state power in so-called "factional battles" cannot and should not be allowed to continue, for they seek to question and erode confidence in our criminal justice system, without providing evidence.
Comrade Kabelo Mataboge, the former provincial secretary of North West, was charged with prejudicing the integrity of the organisation in a properly constituted internal disciplinary process. He subjected himself to ANC discipline, made a plea bargain and accepted the resultant sanction. This is contrary to the claims made by the M&G that he has been purged.
Mpumalanga: Comrade Charles Makola was a municipal manager at Nkangala municipality, with a fixed-term contract. It reached its conclusion and the municipality exercised its right not to renew it in 2013. The contract had been renewed several times since 1996.
In Mpumalanga, as in other provinces, executive committees and mayoral deployments are reviewed and reshuffled whenever the need arises to strengthen governance or to respond to investigations presented to the ANC.
In the case of the provincial cabinet reshuffle, the M&G singles out Comrade Clifford Mkasi so it can make the fallacious "purge" claim. The M&G fails to tell South Africans that the reshuffle affected many other comrades, including Siphosezwe Masango and Norman Mokoena. None of this is shared because to do so would deviate from the narrative the M&G wants to sell at all costs.
The Eastern Cape: The national leadership of the ANC has intervened in the Nelson Mandela metro and Lukhanji local municipality in the Eastern Cape in order to strengthen these municipalities' functioning. Our intervention has been welcomed by the municipalities and by communities affected. No purging can be read into our intervention.
The ANC reaffirms that it is not involved in the imagined purging or the divisive tendencies the M&G wants to sell to the nation.
Jackson Mthembu is the ANC spokesperson