He addressed scores on Saturday morning in Mpumalanga.
ANC national chairman Gwede Mantashe has rejected the impression of a highly divided ANC, saying what exists there is a top 6 and not a top 3.
Mantashe, who was elected the chair on a slate of President Cyril Ramaphosa together with treasurer Paul Mashatile at Nasrec, told scores who attended the party’s 106th birthday celebration at the Elukwatini stadium, Mpumalanga that they are not a top 3.
“We are a top 6,” the chair said to applause.
“The ANC today is led by a Buffalo, deputised by a man called Unity and the secretary is Ace Magashule. Do not send SMSes and WhatsApps to me. Send them to Ace, he is the secretary and deputised by Jessie Duarte. The treasurer is Paul Mashatile,” Mantashe said.
“We are 6. We are not 3-3, we are not 4-2 or 1-5. We are six. That’s what you must know,” Mantashe said to applause.
He said when the ANC went to its 54th conference it was divided between those who supported NDZ and those who supported CR but “delegates did something very amazing”.
“They took people from the NDZ camp and those from the CR camp and merged them,” he said.
“They said we don’t want CR, we don’t want NDZ. We want ANC,” Mantashe said.
He then warned those who were not prepared to respect the newly elected leadership to be careful of ‘punishment’.
He said they hoped all ANC members will accept the “directives of the delegates” and not undermine each other based on the fact that others were NDZ and others were CR.
“If you don’t recognise an elected leadership you are not being purged. But you are being punished and this punishment is to teach you to know that in any organisation we respect an elected leadership,” he said.
He called on all to be patient as talks between Ramaphosa and head of state Jacob Zuma are continuing.
“We must take the ANC to the people. We must unify our country. We must unify society and mobilise our allies behind the program of the ANC and these are the tasks given to us in the January 8 statement,” he said.
(edited by MLM)
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