Former police minister Bheki Cele has delivered a stern message to the African National Congress (ANC), saying the party cannot continue deceiving its supporters. Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday during a memorial service for the late ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, Cele said the ANC’s credibility is wearing thin among its base.
“We may think that we are bluffing people, but you can fool some people, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. There comes a time when people say, ‘We see what you are up to.’ Then they leave you to walk alone, you will be thinking that they are with you, but in reality, you are walking alone,” he said.
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Cele urged the ruling party to acknowledge its past mistakes if it hopes to regain public trust. “People do not hate the ANC; they are just angry. The first thing that we are supposed to do is to humble ourselves and admit our transgressions. But it should not end there, we need to correct ourselves, and once we have done that, we must do the right thing,” he said.
“We Used To Walk Tall”: Cele Reflects On ANC’s Lost Pride
The former minister lamented how public pride in the ANC has faded, saying there was a time when wearing the party’s T-shirt was a badge of honour.
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“We used to be the pulse of communities. We used to walk tall,” Cele said, adding that some leaders have become disconnected from the people they are meant to serve.
“They are people who use the ANC to get into positions of power… we have to go back to the basics of serving the ANC and not ourselves,” he warned. Cele admitted that internal issues and leadership failures are to blame for the ANC’s declining support.
Despite the criticism, he urged members not to abandon the party. “Do not follow those who have left the party to form their own parties, do not allow yourselves to be stolen, stay in the party because this is our children’s inheritance,” he said.
Cele Speaks On Police Raids And Corruption Allegations
Cele, who has been implicated in alleged political interference within the police, told Newzroom Afrika that he will address the claims when he appears before the Madlanga Commission.
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At the same event, he commented on recent police raids at the home of the deputy national commissioner of police in Pretoria and at the residence of Cedrick Nkabinde, Chief of Staff to Minister Senzo Mchunu.
“Last week in the Western Cape 26 houses were raided of people who stole R1.2 billion from the Cape Town municipality.
“But no one is talking about it—they did not inform the reporters that they must go there with their cameras…the white people are happy. I do not know why corruption smells better when it is being done by a whiter person but smells bad when it is being done by a black person,” Cele said.
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On Mthethwa’s death, Cele expressed disappointment in South Africans’ reaction, saying the late ambassador deserved more sympathy.
“The priests must go to the mountain and pray that He does to South Africa what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. South Africans, you are Sodom and Gomorrah; you do not have a conscience and a heart,” he said.
Mthethwa, like Cele, has also been implicated in the Madlanga Commission.
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