/ 1 August 2017

ANC MP Gungubele agrees to keep quiet on Zuma

Speaking out: MP and member of the ANC’s Gauteng provincial executive Mondli Gungubele
Speaking out: MP and member of the ANC’s Gauteng provincial executive Mondli Gungubele

 The ANC in Gauteng has asked ANC MP Mondli Gungubele to stop making public statements about the motion of no confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma.

“After affording comrade Gungubele an opportunity to explain himself, he was advised and requested to desist from making public pronouncements on the matter,” the ANC in Gauteng said in a statement on Tuesday.

He accepted the provincial leaders’ advice and undertook not to make any further comments.

The province called on its ANC members to stop making public statements about issues which it said should be handled internally.

Last week, Gungubele said that he would support the motion in the National Assembly on August 8. He said he had lost confidence in Zuma. This was despite calls from both the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters and in its parliamentary caucus for its MPs to toe the party line.

On Monday, ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu said he was guilty of the “most extreme form of ill-discipline” and called on the party to act against him.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said the party’s national office would not take any action against Gungubele. He left the matter in the hands of provincial structures.

KwaZulu-Natal is already pursuing disciplinary charges against MP Makhosi Khoza. She has publicly expressed disapproval of Zuma.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has yet to say whether or not the vote in the motion will be via secret ballot. – News24