ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says former ANC NEC member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is guilty of violating the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) by allegedly failing to report the corruption she claimed to have witnessed during the party’s 2022 elective conference.
Mbalula makes the claim in an affidavit filed in the Joburg High Court on Friday in support of his urgent application for an interdict against Dlamini-Zuma over remarks she made about him during an episode of the African Renaissance Podcast hosted by Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Dlamini-Zuma alleged during the podcast, which aired on 3 August, that money was used to influence the outcome of the 2022 ANC conference and specifically claimed that Mbalula was “dishing” or handing out money at a clinic.
In the affidavit, which Africa Daily has seen, Mbalula denies the allegations and argues that if Dlamini-Zuma genuinely witnessed him handing out money to influence delegates, she had a duty to report the alleged conduct to law enforcement agencies, SARS and the ANC’s Integrity Commission.
He also says she should have reported her claim that R500 million was found in “someone’s room” at the conference to the relevant authorities, including SARS and the appropriate financial and law-enforcement bodies.
Mbalula invokes section 34(1) of PRECCA, which requires a person holding a position of authority who knows or suspects that certain offences, including corruption, fraud and theft, have been committed to report that knowledge or suspicion to a police official.
He argues that Dlamini-Zuma, who was a Cabinet minister at the time of the alleged conduct, occupied a position of authority and therefore had a statutory duty to report the alleged bribery.
“I am advised that if the Respondent failed to report the alleged corrupt activities she attributes to me to the law enforcement agencies, she is in terms of section 34(2) of PRECCA, guilty of an offence,” Mbalula says.
He further challenges Dlamini-Zuma to produce proof that she ever reported the alleged conduct to the SAPS or to her SAPS protectors who were with her at the time.
Mbalula says she could also have raised the allegations through the ANC’s disciplinary and integrity structures, particularly because she was a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee.
He argues that Dlamini-Zuma’s remarks amount to accusations that he bribed ANC delegates, interfered with the party’s electoral processes and used money to secure his election as secretary-general.
He further says the allegations imply that he was involved in corruption, fraud, money laundering, theft and dishonesty.
Mbalula emphatically denies the allegations, describing them as false, malicious and defamatory.
According to him, Dlamini-Zuma’s statement that “we all know, and we all saw that money was used” suggested that she had direct knowledge of the alleged conduct rather than merely expressing an opinion about the role of money in ANC leadership contests.
He says the allegations have caused serious damage to his reputation and the office he occupies as ANC secretary-general.
The affidavit states that the podcast episode had attracted about 173,000 views when it was drafted, while material containing the allegations posted on other platforms had attracted hundreds of thousands of views.
Mbalula says the allegations have continued to be discussed and shared across social media and in mainstream media, causing ongoing damage to his reputation.
He says his attorneys sent Dlamini-Zuma a letter demanding that she retract the allegations, but her attorneys indicated that they would only respond on 30 August because she was travelling internationally.
Mbalula argues that waiting until then would allow the alleged defamatory statements to continue circulating unchecked.
He is asking the court to urgently interdict Dlamini-Zuma and declare the statements defamatory and false.
He is also seeking a punitive costs order against her.
“Had she genuinely witnessed corruption or believed that I had bribed delegates, she had every opportunity and, in terms of PRECCA, a duty to report it. Instead, she chose to make these grave allegations publicly on a podcast without reporting them to the police, SARS or the ANC’s Integrity Commission,” Mbalula says in his affidavit.
The court has yet to determine the merits of Mbalula’s allegations against Dlamini-Zuma.