It may have been just one lost vote but when the eldest grandchild of the ANC’s iconic leader announced that she was ditching the political party that Nelson Mandela called home for 67 years it shook the ANC.
The news that “the ANC has been dumped even by the Mandela family” trended in the past few days and was one of the most hotly debated topics on all social media platforms.
HotNews tracked down Ndileka Mandela with a view to publishing the full story of her reasons for the decision not to vote for the ANC anymore.
Her response to the trending news was an exasperated denial of what has been in the media lately.
“I have noticed with extreme distaste how certain sections of the media have been using a statement I made way back in March 2017 and has been lapped up by the opposition parties as a campaigning tool. I have noted with particular disgust the narrative that is being pushed that “the ANC has been dumped even by the Mandela family”.
My statement then was that, if things didn’t change we may have to reconsider voting for the ANC. It was made at the height of my frustration with the Zuma administration which in my view was not acting in line with the principles of the founding fathers of our liberation movement.
The current state Capture commission inquiry vindicates me as it deals with most of the things I raised then and had the courage to speak publicly about. In that sense, I am a chip off the old block, my grandfather, who had the courage to stand by his convictions even they were sometimes unpopular.
I had initially taken a decision to ignore this rehashed statement which has been bandied about as if it was said yesterday, taken completely out of context. After receiving a long letter from a dear friend, brother and comrade, whom my grandfather had held in high regard, I have decided to use the enquiry by HotNews to correct this false narrative.
Let me make it categorically clear, I am a loyal member and supporter of the ANC and its principles, as long as it adheres to those principles. But that does not mean I will stand by when the vast multitude of South Africans have to face poverty, rolling blackouts and other hardships as a direct result of morally bankrupt leaders who loot state resources”, said Ndileka.
She signed off her statement with these words: “My vote is not secret, I will vote ANC”.
