The ANC has denied claims that it received R80m from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
The political party announced outcomes from its national working committee meeting, which sat on Monday to discuss a number of issues, including the public spats between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and specialised policing unit the Hawks as well as between Treasury and energy provider Eskom.
“The ANC has not received any money from Prasa. Whoever took the R80m’ it never arrived here. The ANC has never received R80m'” said the ANC’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe at a media briefing at its headquarters in Johannesburg.
An exclusive News24 exposé implicated the ANC as a beneficiary in the purchase of the rail agency’s new trains where entities who were not creditors to Prasa received R80m.
“Unless we do that then corruption will be committed in the name of the organisation and our view is that it is this, use of the name of the organisation for individual benefit that drags the organisation through the mud,” he said.
The political party warned those involved in public spats, including Gordhan and the Hawks as well as treasury and Eskom that the controversies were not good for South Africa and its economy, while at the same time reaffirming its belief in Gordhan.
“We do, however, caution them against taking a public posture that seems to isolate them from the rest of government and position them as victims to be protected by society.”
Regarding the electricity supplier, the ANC said it was unfortunate that it has also decided to address its challenges through the media and called for an urgent meeting between the ministries of public enterprises, treasury and energy to decisively deal with this matter in a manner that promotes public confidence.