Masina criticises opponent Bejani Chauke: 'Some day you will vote for a Van der Merwe for money'

ANC Ekurhuleni regional chairperson and treasurer-general hopeful Mzwandile Masina on Monday took a veiled swipe at his opponent, President Cyril Ramaphosa's political adviser Bejani Chauke.

Masina suggested Chauke was an “unknown” nominated for the position of treasurer-general only because he was “dishing” out money.

According to Masina, “at the current rate” if ANC branches continue to be bought, one day someone foreign to ANC politics like “a Van der Merwe” could stand a chance of leading the party if they could “dangle money”.

He was speaking at a last-push campaign event of presidential candidate Zweli Mkhize in Soweto on Monday.

Masina will be challenging Chauke for the ANC purse together with current national spokesperson Pule Mabe after making the threshold, as well as whoever makes it from floor nominations at the December 16-20 gathering at Nasrec in the south of Johannesburg.

In his view, “stolen money” was being used to advance the cause of some candidates such as Chauke.

“Everyone of the 4,500 delegates is a victim because our people are called into corners, given money and told how to vote and we are saying we understand that candidates will accept such monies because they are poor,” said Masina.

“But when you accept such money, you should know that it is stolen money. You are an accomplice to crime. Take the money because you need it but know that those who dish it out are not comrades of the ANC and they are going to kill the ANC.

“At this rate, comrades are willing to vote for people they have never heard of even at branch, at the student movement, youth movement because of money. At the rate you are going, someone with money like the Stellenbosch mafias will say 'here is a white candidate, we want him as president, here is money' and you will come to our branches saying we must vote a Van der Merwe to be president of the ANC,” he said.

“That is the danger we are facing if you keep on accepting money of people we do not know, forcing themselves into our ranks without having a track [record] of being in any of the structures of the organisation. It will only end when you take that money and not vote for those people. You are being bought by people with stolen money.” 

Masina endorsed Mkhize's presidential bid but said his endorsement was not a blank cheque.

He added that if Mkhize wins, he must immediately state “when are our people getting back their land”.

Land expropriation without compensation was a policy of the ANC and he struggled to understand why it had not been implemented, he said.

He placed his trust in Mkhize to deliver on the promise should he be elected ANC president.

Also chief among Mkhize's priorities should he emerge, he said, should be the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank, the creation of a state bank and nationalisation of the mines.

“We want to know Khabazela (Mkhize), when are you going to nationalise the Reserve Bank. We agreed already that the Reserve Bank must expand its mandate to include job creation,” said Masina.

“We have also called for a state pharmaceutical company and state construction company as ANC members and so on and so on. We want a practical step on how you are going to deal with those.”

Masina added that should Mkhize become president he should reject abandoning coal-fired power stations for renewables, a request Mkhize conceded to immediately saying “no coal-powered power station will be closed” should he take over.

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