Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe. (Gallo)
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the party will deal with allegations against its general manager, Ignatius Jacobs, who has been implicated in an alleged covert election campaign aimed at discrediting opposition parties ahead of last year’s municipal polls.
Jacobs is alleged to have been part of a campaign known as the “war room” that was believed to have been led by TV and radio personality Shaka Sisulu.
In court papers filed this month, public relations practitioner Sihle Bolani alleged a team planned to create fake election posters to discredit the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance. One of the poster ideas was an image of EFF leader Julius Malema holding an AK-47. Another part of the programme involved the recruitment of social media “influencers” to spread pro-ANC content.
Now Bolani is suing the party for R2.2-million, which she says was promised to her as payment for her services.
The ANC denied being involved in the matter, despite the fact that its general manager had agreed to pay Bolani a settlement of R1-million by the end of December after she threatened to escalate the matter.
Mantashe claims to have been unaware of the agreement Jacobs had struck with Bolani despite the fact that Jacobs reports directly to him.
“I was not unaware. I saw the letter yesterday, a letter that they have signed, the two of them, in December which settled their R1-million. That’s why we had a meeting with the GM [general manager] this morning,” he said.
Earlier today, Sisulu released a statement in which he said he was unapologetic about the volunteer work he did for the ANC and that claims regarding the existence of the war room were false.
Mantashe said whatever electioneering deals Sisulu had struck were not done on behalf of the party, because he was not an employee of the ANC.
“Shaka Sisulu is not an employee of the ANC. There are many people who go and say ‘we are doing this on behalf of Luthuli House’. And sometimes you ask them ‘who is this Luthuli House?’ and you can’t find the name of the Luthuli House.
“It’s one of those issues and we’re taking it quite seriously.”