ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced she stands firmly by the substance of her concerns regarding financial corruption within internal party contests, as she confirmed that her legal representatives had on Tuesday filed a formal notice of intention to oppose ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula suit against her.

This follows Dlamini-Zuma's remarks made during a recent appearance on an episode of the African Renaissance Podcast, a platform hosted by former EFF MP Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

During her appearance, the former Minister alleged that illicit monetary influence extensively manipulated executive outcomes during major party elections.

Specifically, Dlamini-Zuma accused Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola and Mbalula of participating in vote-buying during the ANC’s fifty-fourth National Conference in 2017. She alleged that a circulating audio recording directly implicated Lamola in these transactional activities.

Furthermore, she went on to accuse Mbalula of openly "dishing out money" at a clinic facility during the fifty-fifth National Conference in 2022 to secure his position and protect Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency.

Earlier this month, Mbalula announced legal action against Dlamini-Zuma and confirmed that he will also refer the matter to the ANC Integrity Commission to clear his name.

Since then, Dlamini-Zuma has issued a formal retraction of her comments about Lamola.

However, she has not issued a similar retraction to comments made about Mbalula and instead doubled down on her concerns regarding financial corruption in the party.

"I stand by my statements and the substance of the argument raised," she asserted. "Out of respect for the court, I will not argue the merits of the case through public statements as the matter will now be fully ventilated in court."

Despite the legal risks, Dlamini-Zuma insisted that the overarching structural issue cannot be silenced by litigation or brushed aside.

She stressed that the ANC is undergoing a “critical process” of organisational renewal that will fail if the party does not directly confront internal financial corruption.

She pointed out that leadership contests have become commercialised, threatening the fundamental identity of the liberation movement, and said financial considerations are overriding political conviction and policy frameworks among voting delegates and that the reliance on cash distributions in internal lobbies is actively destroying the organisational integrity of the ANC.

"The influence of money in ANC elective conferences is common cause and has been spoken about openly by senior leaders and structures of the movement," Dlamini-Zuma said. "Our movement must find the courage to confront this problem as it is killing the ANC.”

On Wednesday, Dlamini-Zuma issued a statement on social media to correct the record about Lamola.

This after Lamola issued a strong legal demand to her, instructing her to publicly retract the claims linking him to 2017 vote-buying allegations.

“Comrade Lamola has since advised me that the voice was not his. I withdraw the attribution on the basis of his clarification,” she stated.

Lamola welcomed the move, noting that Dlamini-Zuma’s statement vindicates what he has maintained from the outset.