Jackson Mthembu new ANC chief whip
ANC national executive committee member Jackson Mthembu has been appointed as the party’s Chief Whip in Parliament, replacing Stone Sizani who took up an ambassador post in Germany.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe confirmed the appointment on Tuesday.
“He is the new chief whip, the [ANC] NEC decided he should be the chief whip of the majority party in Parliament,” Mantashe told SABC radio station SAFM during an interview on Tuesday.
Doris Dlakude, who is not an NEC member, was appointed acting chief whip after Sizani’s departure. Sizani, who took up the chief whip post in 2014, faced a tough time in the National Assembly sittings which were marked by disruptions, especially from the new militant opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Mthembu was ANC national spokesman before he was deployed to Parliament to chair the portfolio committee on environmental affairs. Mthembu previously served as speaker in the Mpumalanga legislature and as spokesman for Nelson Mandela.
Last week, Mthembu was the first senior ANC member to come out in public support of Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas after he confirmed reports that he was offered the post of finance minister by the wealthy Gupta family late last year, shortly before President Jacob Zuma removed Nhlanhla Nene from the portfolio.
Mthembu took to Twitter with the following: “I believe Cde Jonas, @MyANC_ must deal with this arrogance of the #Guptas once and for all!!Who the hell do they think they are.”
The appointment follows a meeting of the NEC at the weekend which closed with Mantashe’s stated assurance that the party was united behind Zuma, though the scandal surrounding the Guptas’s influence continues to widen.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance criticised Mthembu as a Zuma apologist and said his appointment bode ill for effective legislative oversight over the executive.
“The ANC caucus has a duty to oversee the executive. They have failed dismally to do this in the past and it is doubtful that Mthembu as a Zuma loyalist will have the backbone to stand up for the institution of Parliament while he is chief whip,” DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said.
“Mthembu is the former ANC spokesperson and a known Zuma loyalist who tirelessly used this position to spin President Zuma out of many public scandals. Its seems clear that in the midst of growing divisions with ANC ranks Mthembu has now been deployed to the position of Chief Whip in an attempt to pull the ANC caucus back in line behind Zuma.” - ANA