TRANSPORT Minister Fikile isn’t holding back his thoughts about the current leadership of Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), calling them ‘thugs’ and ‘cowards’.
This comes after MKMVA called for the arrest of Mbalula over the collapse of the country’s train services and stations.
The MKMVA earlier marched to the ANC’s headquarters Luthuli House to raise its concerns over the matter.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Mbalula launched a scathing against MKMVA President Kebby Maphatsoe and its controversial spokesperson Carl Niehaus.
He called Maphatsoe a ‘coward’ who ran away from MK camps during the liberation struggle.
Mbalula also lashed out at Niehaus, saying he was a criminal who faked his own mother’s death to raise cash for his personal benefit.
He added that Niehaus was a well-known thug employed by ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule to enforce his authority at the party’s headquarters in Johannesburg.
“Karl Niehaus faked the death of his own mother. Today he is showing up with chicken audacity threatening everyone including the State,” said Mbalula.
The Gauteng MKVA demanded the arrest of transport Mbalula for the country’s almost defunct train service.
Seven of Metrorail’s 34 commuter lines are currently operating countrywide as Metrorail grapples with the results of large-scale looting by cable thieves.
MKMVA Gauteng said the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) Gauteng, the Congress of SA Students (Cosas) Gauteng, and the SA National Cargo Transport and Drivers Association (SANCATDRA) joined the march, which started at the Beyers Naudé Square and proceeded to the premier’s office in Johannesburg.
“Among other issues, the march is focusing on the plight of the poor and forgotten freedom fighters, rampant corruption in the country, the demand for the arrest of apartheid killers, the arrest of transport minister for the damaged railway network, the plight of truck and taxi drivers, crime and gender-based violence,” the organisation said.
“Overall the march is in support of the ANC’s official economic policy programme for Radical Economic Transformation (RET). The pro-RET economic transformation Resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the ANC, with specific reference to the expropriation of land without compensation and the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) among others, must be implemented forthwith fully.”
In his tweets, Mbalula defended himself, claiming that he put a stop to those “milking Prasa” amid the scandals that overshadowed the railway company over the years.
“Prasa was your milking cow, I have closed the taps [and] that is my sin. You used to do as wish with fake security companies,” he said.
“They run amok organising marches threatening the rule of law; Suspected criminals Kebby and Karl Niehaus.”
Mbalula also claimed he is not afraid of former president Jacob Zuma, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and Magashule.
Magashule responded to Mbalula’s Twitter rant by questioning his mental sanity, asking if he has gone mad.
“I have touched the nerve centre the bosses are beginning to come out. They say we are mad our LEADERS,” said Mbalula in response Magashule’s tweet.
In a statement issued on Monday night, Mbalula said he has taken note of a persistent campaign by MKMVA, led by Maphatsoe and Niehaus.
“It is rather unfortunate that these individuals hide behind ANC structures to camouflage their nefarious intentions to loot state entities. Their ill-conceived actions are a retaliation informed by the actions we have taken in cleaning the rot at PRASA, with particular reference to the termination of security contracts that have achieved the opposite of what they were meant to deliver,” said Mbalula.
“The Auditor General confirmed that these were irregular contracts and we had to take decisive steps not only to regularize these, but to bring in a security arrangement that protected the public assets.”
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
