By Sihle Mavuso
ANC first deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane has rejected claims the party abandoned the working class and poor by entering a government of national unity (GNU) after its losses in the 2024 general elections.
Mokonyane said the ANC would be “the last party” to betray its traditional support base, dismissing criticism that the coalition arrangement amounted to a sell-out.
She was speaking at a Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) May Day rally held at the Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Friday, where she also called for unity among the Tripartite alliance partners ahead of the November 4 Local Government Elections.
“We are a mass-based organisation, we are an ANC that is a broad movement, an ANC that is biased to the working class and the poor, we are the products, we are the kids, we are the daughters of the working class and the poor,” Mokonyane said at the gathering.
“We are the ones who will be the last to sell this revolution… beware of the wedge drivers, beware of the international right-wing agenda and beware of propaganda and disinformation. The ANC has not sold (out) even after (the) 2024 (elections). Instead, we have made gains and navigated against the challenges that we are going through.”
Her remarks appeared to target critics who argue that including the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the GNU amounted to a “sellout”, describing the party as hostile to working-class interests.
Among those critics is South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila, who has said the ANC should instead have partnered with the MK Party (MKP) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), rather than what he called “class enemies” such as the DA.
Mokonyane said that even under difficult circumstances, the ANC had never considered betraying the working class and the poor.
“The ANC is the last to sell the workers, the ANC is the last to betray a revolution, even under difficult conditions, our constitution is non-negotiable and therefore the rights of the workers are protected in the constitution. Even under difficult conditions, workers in Johannesburg, having suffered for over 16 years, today their salaries and their increases have now been backdated,” said Mokonyane.
“We are saying comrades that as we stand here, we must appreciate that the regime change agenda seeks to make the ANC a monster, none of us progressive and none of us revolutionary must turn the ANC of Moses Kotane, of Chris Dlamini, of Elijah Bharayi a monster to the working class.”
On the upcoming elections after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced November 4 as the election date, Mokonyane said they are ready, and they would be vigorously campaigning for victory.
“As we stand here today, comrades, November 4 is fast approaching, we will come back to campaign and everyone will go to an individual, but as we go there, we don’t have to talk about others but ourselves,” said Mokonyane.
“We don’t talk about others but talk about what is good for the workers and the future of shack dwellers and the future of our unemployed kids, of the future of the workers of (Tongaat) Hullets.”
PHOTOS: X/MyANC
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