‘I won’t step aside’ - under-fire Mantashe keeping hold of ANC position
Former ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says he will not step aside from the governing party pending investigations into his role in the state capture web.
Mantashe, who is the party's chairperson, made the pronouncement on Wednesday afternoon during a media briefing he called in response to the release of the commission’s report.
The report makes damning findings against former president Jacob Zuma alongside other big names in the ANC, including Nomvula Mokonyane, recommending further investigations by law enforcement on the role by the politicians in swindling billions of rands through government tenders awarded to Bosasa.
The report makes the same recommendation on Mantashe.
Speaking in Pretoria, Mantashe announced his plans to take the commission’s report on judicial review - accusing the commission of failing to take account of the facts placed before it.
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During the period Mantashe is accused of benefiting from free security upgrades to his private property. He did not hold any government positions at the time.
While his position in Cabinet as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy is seemingly safe, his ANC membership is now in question.
But Mantashe believes calls for him to step aside from the party are premature.
“Consciousness is not a religious concept, when it is revolutionary. It is not a religious concept, it is a material concept.
“Until we move beyond the point of the ‘reasonable prospect that further investigation will uncover prima facie case against Mantashe’, once we move beyond that point then we decide at that point.
“The commission itself says there is no prima facie evidence against me but you say I must step aside. No. That will be conscious. Conscious is about dealing with the martial realty around you but when there is no prima facie case and I step aside, I’m just impressing everybody else like you who wish to see me step aside quicker.
“I will step aside when I’m charged and there is a prima facie case,” he said, seemingly unfazed by the scrutiny and pressure.
While the party’s step-aside resolution does not dictate he step aside until formal charges are brought against him, his implication in the report may be enough for him to be hauled before the ANC’s integrity committee.
But Mantashe says he has not received a formal invitation to this effect.
“The integrity commission does not use journalists to invite us, it doesn’t do that. If they want to talk to you, the integrity commission writes a letter to you inviting you. I have no invitation form the integrity commission,” he added.
Listen to Mantashe below:
