ANC defends Mbalula's use of a private boat to get to Robben Island for party event
In a statement, the ANC said that Fikile Mbalula's private boat ride to Robben Island was falsely being portrayed as an indulgent luxury.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula at the party's January 8 statement rally at Mandela Park, Khayelitsha in Cape Town on 11 January 2025. Picture: @MYANC/X
CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC) has defended its secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula's use of a private boat to Robben Island last week, where the party was commemorating its 113th anniversary.
It said that Sunday's expose by the Sunday Times that Mbalula chose the yacht over the regular ferry which transported other guests had created a misleading narrative.
It's not the first time that Mbalula's choice of transport has set tongues wagging after he arrived at an election manifesto launch in KwaZulu-Natal last year in a more than R4 million luxury vehicle.
In a statement, the ANC said that Mbalula's private boat ride to Robben Island was falsely being portrayed as an indulgent luxury.
The Sunday Times reported that Mbalula had secured the use of the yacht from a businessman associated with the party at no cost.
The party said that the decision was purely a practical and logistical one to allow Mbalula to meet all his engagements in a packed campaign programme in the Western Cape last week.
"To suggest that such logistical decisions were anything other than necessary is to wilfully ignore the realities of a demanding leadership role during a historic occasion," read the statement.
The party said there was no unethical conduct or undue benefit derived from these arrangements.
It went on to say that the yacht owner in question was a reputable, above-board entrepreneur, whose relationship with the ANC was limited to being a stakeholder who wanted to build a better country.
The party said that its partners were being unfairly discredited and painted in a negative light.
"The ANC will continue to defend and foster these partnerships, as they are critical to achieving the goals of the national democratic revolution."
On Monday the ANC's national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, said that Mbalula's transport was not sanctioned by the national executive committee, which met in Cape Town a week ago to finalise the January 8th programme.