African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has filed charges against Thuja Capital CEO Mthunzi Mdwaba for what he calls a “slandering campaign” against him and other Cabinet Ministers after they were accused of trying to solicit bribes related to an Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) jobs scheme.

In a statement Mbalula denies the allegations and has instructed his lawyers to send a letter of demand to Mdwaba and said “should he fail to retract all his malicious and defamatory statements about me, my legal team will approach our courts to compel him and seek appropriate relief”.

The secretary-general is concerned that the allegations not only impugn his family name but also the ANC.

These allegations surface as the party touts a renewal process ahead of the 2024 elections.

“In the South African political parlance, it has become too easy to soil one another with the corruption tag. Corruption eats away at the very important gains of democracy, it defers the dreams of the entire nation, black and white,” outlined Mbalula.

He encourages those with evidence of any wrongdoing to come forward “and when they do so we must protect them”.

He says he has never supported corrupt activities and points out that it was he who spoke of a “Gupta problem” in an ANC national executive committee meeting at the time of the scandal.

“My name will not be associated with corruption. Renewal demands of us to take these allegations seriously to a point where we must not tolerate attempts to make light of corruption,” said Mbalula.