Johannesburg – ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete has accused foreign networks of funding opposition parties in a bid to topple the ANC.
Speaking at a gathering of the Progressive Professionals Forum in Cape Town today, Mbete said there was a “narrative coming from outside the borders, or sponsored from there” that said the world, or “knowledgeable people”, had to “do everything they can, to put every bit of energy they can, to unseat former liberation governments”.
The ANC had been aware of this campaign for a long time.
Mbete said during her term as Speaker of Parliament, which ended in 2008, she had been approached by a former finance minister of another country from the SADC region.
“She said, ‘Madam Speaker, I hope you people are aware of this campaign’.
“I said, ‘ What campaign?’ and she explained it,” Mbete said.
The woman had told her opposition parties in other countries had been approached over the years and told they could be funded to “club together against the parties that have been in the forefront of liberation struggles”.
Mbete said it was time to acknowledge this phenomenon and “take responsibility for tackling it”.
