ANC Statement on Sunday Independent Article The African National Congress has noted the unfortunate story published by the Sunday Independent today under the headlineGwede under fire. The story seeks to create an impression that the Secretary-General of the ANC, when articulating the principled position of the ANC on the current challenges facing COSATU, spoke his personal opinion and sought to electioneer for the 2017 Conference of the ANC. These unfortunate insinuations are not true; they are unfounded, misguided and malicious. The position of the African National Congress on the challenges which are facing COSATU, and which has been clearly articulated by the SG, is principled and unambiguous. We have often and unequivocally stated that a strong and united COSATU is in the best interests of the African National Congress and the people of South Africa. The cohesion of COSATU is a critical precondition for the advancement of our revolution and that dealing with an individual, whether for or against that individual, should never undermine the unity of the Federation. As the Congress movement, we view the unity of COSATU as sacrosanct and should be defended and guarded jealously. To this end, the ANC has worked deliberately with COSATU and its affiliates to support the federation and assist in facilitating a resolution to the current impasse. Sunday Independent, in its over zealousness for sensational headlines at the expense of fair, accurate and balanced reporting, failed to even just obtain comment from the ANC on this matter. The paper sought to publish malicious and mischievous rumors as fact and did so quoting nameless and faceless sources to support some concocted notion of a succession battle within the ANC. The ANC shall not retreat from our commitment to support COSATU, nor will our leadership be deterred by cheap stunts that seek to cast doubt on their integrity and bona fides in this process. We will therefore await a correction of the story by the newspaper to reflect the truthful, accurate and fair representation of the role of the ANC and its Secretary-General in this matter. In the event that such is not forthcoming, we reserve our right to pursue further action using the tools available to us against the consistent and persistent irregular, unbalanced and improper reporting on the ANC and its leaders by the media.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 14:07:00 +0000
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