Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise has dismissed a report that has linked her with former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party.
Modise’s denial comes just days after the ANC expelled Mervyn Dirks, a former ANC MP who recently resigned and moved to the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.
In a detailed statement issued on Tuesday, Modise said she was appalled by suggestions that she had defected from the ANC to join the newly formed MK Party following an article by Opera News Hub.
According to this online publication, Modise had left her position in the Cabinet and resigned from the ANC to join the MK Party.
“The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans League, Ms Thandi Modise, is extremely appalled and disgusted by what can be described as ‘fake news’ reports that she has resigned from her position. In an article by ‘Opera News Hub’, published on 27 February 2024, it is reported that Minister Modise left her position in Cabinet as well as from the African National Congress to join the newly formed MK Party,” reads the statement by the department.
Modise indicated that she had no plans to leave the ANC or her Cabinet position any time soon.
“I reject all these nonsensical lies that I have left the African National Congress (ANC) for any party. I will stay in the ANC and I intend to die as a member of the ANC, no matter what happens to the ANC. So, I would like people to know that those lies out there could not have come from me.
“I want to say to the loyal members of the ANC, continue doing the good work of making sure that we continue to improve the living conditions of our people, and that our comrades who have left and have died in the hands of the apartheid system did not die in vain. That is why no matter what happens to the ANC, I will stay a member of the ANC,” she fired back.
Modise said the reports were meant to sow divisions within the ANC and its work in governance.
“The minister sees these reports as barbaric acts of wedge drivers who are hell-bent at undermining the unity of the ANC and creating instability in government. The article is also a mockery of journalism. The public is urged to be vigilant and extremely cautious of consuming news from unverified sources,” the statement said.
The Star
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