Anc Denies Approaching Zuma Or Mk Party To Join Gnu In A Bid To Kick Out Da

The African National Congress ANC says it has not approached former President Jacob Zuma or his party, uMkhonto weSizwe MK Party, to join the government of national unity GNU.

On Tuesday 22 April, IOL News shared a leaked voice recording in which Zuma is heard making the claim. It is unclear when this took place.

Im waiting for a delegation in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature. They are planning to come to convince me that we must accept the proposition which has been made by the ANC that we should have three parties taking over the country and then once that happens, we take the DA Democratic Alliance out, the ex-President is heard saying.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ANC denied making such an approach. No such discussions have taken place, national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said.

These claims, if indeed attributable to Jacob Zuma, are unfounded and misleading. The ANC has conducted all GNU engagements transparently, in good faith, and in line with the spirit and letter of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Bhengu-Motsiri added that the ANC has not engaged in or contemplated any clandestine strategy to marginalise any party that is a constituent of the GNU.

Such allegations - unverified and untested - risk misleading the public, sowing confusion and eroding trust. They are particularly regrettable when made, or believed to be made, by individuals who have held high office and carry a responsibility to uphold the truth in public discourse, she said.

We will not be drawn into battles with individuals who have placed themselves in the service of ego rather than the people.

The GNU is currently facing its biggest test yet after its second-largest party, the DA, voted against the budgets fiscal framework in Parliament earlier this month.

ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile recently announced that the ANC had decided to bring other parties into the GNU, without specifying which ones.