ANC ‘heartened’ by Mantashe's bribery explanation
The African National Congress (ANC) has expressed support for its national chairperson Gwede Mantashe amid claims that he bribed journalists.
The Sunday World reported that Mantashe confessed in an interview that he paid R70 000 to journalists in an attempt to stop them from writing a scandalous story about him.
On Sunday, the newspaper published a response from Mantashe, claiming that he had declined to answer their questions about a love triangle story involving him, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Lerato Habiba Makgatho.
Manatshe refuted the claims on Tuesday.
ALSO READ: EFF calls for Mantashe's head to roll
The ruling party's spokesperson Pule Mabe says the party is "heartened" by the fact that Mantashe has denied the claims against him.
"Bribing journalists is not only criminal and unethical, it is also inconsistent with the values of the ANC.
"The ANC has neither a policy nor culture of buying journalists and strongly associates itself with the letter and spirit expressed in the preamble of Press Code of the Press Council of South Africa, affirming that media exist to serve society,” he said.