Mabuza’s ‘slap-down’ of Mboweni exposes ANC at war over Eskom

12 March 2019

In response to a question posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament today, the Deputy President, David Mabuza, exposed that the ANC is in fact at war with itself over the future and direction of Eskom.

Mabuza was asked by the DA whether he supported the view of Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, that some state-owned entities needed to be privatised, especially in the context of unbundling Eskom in order to ensure that the entity is viable.

Instead of any diplomatic tact, Mabuza distanced himself completely from Mboweni by saying that he doesn’t take the Minister of Finance seriously, and that he would not entertain any tweet or personal views of the Minister or take them seriously. This is alarming considering the fact that the Deputy President is tasked with leading the special Cabinet committee on Eskom which is meant to provide solutions to the crisis that Eskom and South Africans are facing.

It is clear that the ANC is divided about the future of SOEs and thus the future of South Africa’s economic outlook. It is clear that the ANC does not know how to pull the country out of the Eskom crisis due to crippling in-fighting. This leaves the country in a precarious position of having to pay- literally out of their pockets- for the ANC’s corruption and maladministration of our SOEs.

It is clear that the dysfunction in the ANC will continue to be a threat to fixing Eskom and to the economy. The ANC cannot be trusted to solve the problems that the country faces. South Africans can no longer afford another 5 years of policy uncertainty and government infighting. What is clear is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is merely a sitting duck who is not in charge of the ANC. Only the DA can truly steer Eskom out of this crisis.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 12 March 2019