Daily Sun (January 29 2014) - GWEDE MANTASHE wasted no time in taking a swipe at opposition parties at a media briefing yesterday. First he insulted the DA and then he insulted the EFF . . . and then he got personal! HE SUGGESTED MAMPHELA RAMPHELE WAS A "RENT-A-BLACK" AND SAID JULIUS MALEMA WAS AN ATTACKING DOG.
"Please don't ask me about rent-a-leader, rent-a-black, it's not our problem," the ANC secretary general told media gathered at the ANC's new press room at Luthuli House. And that was before he'd even started his speech!
Mantashe was taking a swipe at the DA and Agang merger announced in Cape Town a few hours earlier. Agang leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele was revealed as the DA's presidential candidate for the upcoming national election.
Mantashe did not reveal the names of the party electoral candidates. Instead he spoke about how the ruling party feels about the new merger and the EFF constantly criticising party leader President Jacob Zuma. "We are 102 years old and cannot behave like an infant or a teenager," he said.
He said it was nothing new to be insulted. In response to the EFF criticism, Mantashe said an ANC leader taught him how to deal with criticism and being insulted.
"When you deliver post and a dog attacks you, don't bite it back," he said.
"Instead stand up and beat it so people can see that a dog is attacking a human being."
He added that this was the principle that had continued to guide the ruling party in dealing with what he called vulgar critics.
After the press conference, Mantashe told the media the end of Agang was like that of an unborn baby which had to be buried quietly after dying in its mother's womb.
He again accused Ramphele of selling her face as a "rent-a-black".
"If Mamphela will allow that to be done to her because she wants to be president so badly, we can only wish her good luck," said Mantashe.
) Mantashe showed the media a thick book containing the names of the ANC candidates, but the nation will have to wait until the election date is set for the ANC's candidate list to be released.
Mantashe confirmed that party president Jacob Zuma was number one on the list, followed by deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.
) The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) welcomed Ramphele's decision to run with the DA in the elections.
"As these two parties are clearly fishing in the same pond this move makes a lot of sense.
It also fits nicely into the DA's vision of a two party state," said ACDP MP Cheryllyn Dudley.
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