Mbalula threatens to take Dlamini-Zuma to court after vote-buying allegations

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula briefs the media on the repatriation of South Africa’s liberation heroes from Angola at Freedom Park Restaurant on 31 July 2026 in Pretoria. Picture: Gallo Images/Lefty Shivambu ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has threatened senior National Executive Committee (NEC) member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma with a court battle. This comes after Dlamini-Zuma accused Mbalula of using money to ensure that he is elected as secretary-general at the party’s 54thnational conference in 2022.

Dlamini-Zuma made these allegations on Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s podcast. “Oh, you remember there was money that was found in somebody’s room, half a billion, on the first morning of the conference… and also Mbalula was dishing the money in the clinic. So, money has played a role in the ANC,” she said.

Dlamini-Zuma said Mbalula was also handing out money for President Cyril Ramaphosa to be elected at the same conference. “Money was used we all know… we all saw it. At least in 2022, we saw it.

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If you ask anyone who worked at the clinic at the time, they will tell you; even the media reported it. I am not revealing a secret,” she said. Dlamini-Zuma stressed that ANC elective conferences areno longer legitimate contests.

“I do not know how you make decisions when you were paid in order to be where you are. So I don’t know whether you make decisions independently or you think of the money you got,” she said. However, at an ANC NEC meeting in Boksburg on Friday, Mbalula described Dlamini-Zuma’s utterances as “erratic” and “unexpected”.

“You will expect that a person of her standing would have raised the matters formally in the organisation and allowed the integrity commission to deal with those matters. “Mbalula was dishing money 💰 in the clinic in 2022 to be elected as Secretary-General, and for the President to be elected”. ~ Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.pic.twitter.com/P9FUgGdPTJ Mbalula questioned Dlamini-Zuma’s loyalty to the ANC, noting that her remarks come as the ANC is preparing for local government elections.

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