ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has refused to retract or apologise for statements attributed to him regarding Eastern Cape ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi’s alleged involvement in the tampering with and manipulation of the province’s list of councillor candidates submitted to the IEC last month.
Mbalula was given until midday on Tuesday by Ngcukayitobi’s legal team to retract the alleged statements and tender an apology to the provincial secretary or face a lawsuit.
The legal threat followed a Sunday Times article about a leaked confidential internal ANC report in which Mbalula reportedly blamed Ngcukayitobi for the party’s candidate-list failures in the province.
In the report, apparently presented to ANC officials, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mbalula reportedly attributed the Eastern Cape’s candidate-list problems to the provincial leadership, specifically Ngcukayitobi.
According to the report, as cited by the Sunday Times, Ngcukayitobi allegedly submitted the province’s final candidate list to the ANC’s operations centre at 4.31pm on August 28, just 29 minutes before the IEC’s 5pm deadline.
Mbalula reportedly argued that the short window left the ANC’s data centre with insufficient time to process the provincial list, check it against information already held, capture changes and submit the affected municipal lists to the IEC.
Late last week, Ngcukayitobi’s legal team sent a letter threatening to sue Mbalula for defamation over statements allegedly holding their client responsible for the province’s failure to submit its lists on time.
The lawyers gave Mbalula until midday on Tuesday to retract what they described as “falsehoods” about the provincial secretary’s alleged role in the ANC’s candidate-list debacle.
In the letter, attorney Eric Mabuza said the ANC provincial secretary had been defamed by statements attributed to Mbalula in the report and subsequent media coverage.
The lawyers also disputed the implication that Ngcukayitobi had altered a candidate list already approved by the ANC’s national executive committee.
Mbalula missed Tuesday’s deadline but, in a reply sent to Ngcukayitobi’s legal team on Wednesday morning and seen by the Daily Dispatch, denied defaming Ngcukayitobi and refused to retract the alleged statements.
Mbalula’s legal team, led by Salman Patel of SM Patel Attorneys Inc, instead called on Ngcukayitobi to provide evidence supporting his claims.
“Our client denies that he unlawfully defamed your client as alleged and does not accede to the demand for a retraction.
“There is, however, a fundamental difficulty with your letter. You allege that our client authored and/or prepared a report containing the statements complained of and caused its publication, yet the report has neither been attached nor properly identified.
“Kindly furnish us with a complete copy of the alleged report and confirm its source, when and from whom your client obtained it, and the factual basis upon which it is alleged that our client authored, prepared or caused its publication.
“Kindly further identify precisely when, where, to whom and by what means our client is alleged to have published the statements complained of.
“The fact that certain allegations may have appeared in newspaper reports does not, without more, establish that our client authored the underlying document, supplied it to the media or authorised its publication.
“Your client must establish that connection. Until then, a demand that our client retract an unidentified publication is premature.
“The allegations of falsity and malice are equally denied,” Mbalula’s lawyers wrote.
They added: “In the circumstances, our client does not accede to the demand for a retraction.”
Mbalula’s legal team indicated that he would oppose any lawsuit instituted against him by Ngcukayitobi.
Ngcukayitobi could not be reached for comment.
However, his attorney, Eric Mabuza, confirmed on Wednesday morning that he had received Mbalula’s response to the demand letter.
Mabuza confirmed that Mbalula had missed Tuesday’s deadline to retract the alleged statements and apologise to his client.
He said he was still studying the response and would take instructions on how to proceed with the matter.
Mabuza said he would be able to provide a further update on Friday morning.
Daily Dispatch