African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says party members who fight on public platforms will face disciplinary action, following a week of public spats among ANC leaders. 

Mbalula wrote an internal letter, seen by News24 and dated 9 November, to party members saying that public pronouncements made outside his orders create "communication dissonance". 

He said the party could not afford public fighting before the 2024 general election.

"During the past two weeks, a number of pronouncements by ANC leaders at various levels, including provinces, leagues and deployees in government, have created perceptions of communication dissonance and an inability, or unwillingness, to stay on message. Of particular concern is the public ventilation of internal organisational or governmental disagreements.

"This is a matter of serious concern, especially in the context of the build-up to the 2024 national and provincial elections. The NEC [national executive committee] has emphasised – repeatedly – that any differences must be dealt with internally and that 'public spats' must be avoided at all cost," Mbalula said.

The latest public dispute between ANC leaders was a clash between the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and the ANC Women's League (ANCWL), the latter which called out ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma for "blatant sexism" and for undermining Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube at the Springboks trophy tour last weekend.

In a statement on Monday, the ANCWL was critical of Duma's behaviour towards the premier, saying it betrayed the party's ideology of gender equality and non-sexism. 

The provincial leadership hit back at the women's league, with ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Bheki Mtolo accusing the league of seeking to "liquidate" the ANC in the province. 

This back-and-forth happened on social media and seems to be the basis of Mbalula's worry. 

When he was elected to his post in December 2022, Mbalula came into his role with much bravado, promising to bring back order to the ANC, and has since taken extreme issue with ANC leaders and members who spoke at will to the media about the party's internal problems. 

Mbalula said in December 2022: "The ANC has been conducting its business not like a well-organised machine. You have issues and NEC members that attack the president, you have ANC members that contradict themselves in public, and the membership follows."

His letter directed members to only raise their disputes internally. 

"The principle of democratic centralism shall guide the communication approach of the ANC and its membership. Members of the ANC or its structures at various levels are encouraged to express dissenting views on any matter or adopted position of the organisation within the internal structures of the ANC. Failure to comply with these directives by the NEC will result in the institution of disciplinary processes in terms of rule 25 of the ANC constitution," Mbalula wrote. 

He included a detailed list of communication protocols which the ANC adopted in 2018. The six-page document says only the party president, secretary-general and spokespersons are mandated to communicate the party's policies.

"The ANC must speak with one voice across all its structures, including the leagues. Once a higher structure has pronounced on an issue, all lower structures are bound by such pronouncement and may not make statements that are contrary to such a position.

"Any conduct involving leaking of confidential information shall constitute a violation of this communications protocol and the ANC has a responsibility to deal with this act of misconduct in the same way as it would deal with any act that brings the organisation into disrepute. Any member who leaks or releases information to the media or public without due authorisation or prior approval shall be guilty of misconduct," the document says.