Riyaz Patel
Former KwaZulu-Natal legislature deputy speaker Meshack Radebe has alleged that he witnessed ANC leaders dishing out cash in exchange for votes ahead of the party’s Nasrec elective conference in 2017, according to a report in the The Star.
“In the hotel where I was staying (in Johannesburg) the cash was given out at the foyer. Delegates would come in buses to collect cash,” he claimed.
“One of the leaders who was giving out money is now a minister. Delegates were each counting R5000, R3000, R4000. Others were complaining that the money they had received was not enough,” said Radebe.
The veteran politician said what he witnessed made him realise that his party, the ANC, was on a wrong path, and he decided to quit government.
Radebe had been a mayor and an MEC in KZN.
He said he declined to return to the provincial legislature despite being in the top 20 of the ANC provincial legislature list.
“When I returned from Nasrec, I said I am resigning, because what I saw there I could not stomach; but the leadership, including Nxamalala (former president Jacob Zuma) pleaded with me not to leave until after the elections,” he said.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said he was not privy to Radebe’s claims and declined to comment.
ANC KZN spokesperson Ricardo Mthembu said the only discussions they had had with Radebe was when they approached him after his name appeared on the nomination list for the provincial legislature.
Mthembu said at the time that Radebe had declined the nomination, saying he was approaching his seventies and wanted to spend time with his family.
