ANC attacks Jacob Zuma

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula attacked former President Jacob Zuma, accusing him of fueling violence and rendering South Africa ungovernable.

Mbalula made these accusations during a media briefing on the outcomes of the National Working Committee (NWC) on 25 June 2026.

During this media briefing, he focused on numerous issues, including internal party politics, illegal immigration, and judicial overreach.

Mbalula took aim at Zuma, saying that he was clinging to power after he was beaten in the ANC’s 54th National Conference in December 2017.

“The president at that time, Jacob Zuma, was facing charges and was about to be arrested. He refused to be recalled and wanted to render the country ungovernable,” Mbalula said.

“He has now formed a political party, taking our symbols, destroying the ANC to the ground, and supporting endless marches.”

He added that Zuma still says that everything must be rendered ungovernable simply because things do not go his way.

“Zuma is an elder in this country. He was the president. South Africans are failing to hold him accountable for the things he does, which happened under his watch,” he said.

“He knows the difficulties we are dealing with in immigration, yet today he is joining the fray irresponsibly.”

“As an elderly statesman and a man who was once the president of this country, standing on a platform and fueling violence is unacceptable.”

Mbalula questioned how a person who was the leader of South Africa so recently can call for violence in the country.

“These people do not know what they are talking about. He is supporting them purely for political reasons because he wants votes,” he said.

He added that the ANC has not targeted Zuma. “The ANC has never attacked Zuma, nor have we attacked anyone else,” he said.

“What we have raised is that you cannot take the law into your own hands, like attacking people, burning them, and doing all of those barbarian things,” he said.

“We have called on the state to intervene because, to us, addressing the question of illegal immigration is the role of the state, and the state alone.”

“Where there is a collapse of the rule of law, citizens must not take the law into their own hands; instead, we must challenge the state.”