DA is ‘working overtime to reverse the gains of freedom’ – Fikile Mbalula

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula took a veiled swipe at the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday, accusing the party of being determined to roll back the gains of freedom by challenging key legislation in court.

While it is a member of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the DA has challenged legislation including the Employment Equity Amendment Act, the Bela Act and the Expropriation Act.

“Those who have taken us to courts are working overtime to reverse the gains of our freedom. It is clear, comrades, to us as the ANC, that the only way to overcome this strategic setback is to win the elections with an outright majority,”  Mbalula said.

He made the remarks during his keynote address at the ANC’s Duma Nokwe Memorial Lecture, held in the Sedibeng Municipality.

Mbabula delivered the address after South Africa failed twice to pass the 2025 Budget, which is now expected to be tabled on 21 May. Mbalula believes the revised Budget must be reflective of transformation policies.

“Radical socioeconomic transformation must and will happen in our lifetime. It is our contention as the ANC that the national Budget must reflect a growth path that would ensure adequate absorption of the unemployed through economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and expansion of existing businesses,” he said.

Read more: Employment Equity — the DA’s dare to the ANC

With the 2026 local government elections on the horizon, Mbalula said his party needed to win elections to mitigate against what he referred to as contradictions and strategic setbacks seemingly happening because of policy differences among political parties in the GNU.

“Comrades, we must not just win the elections to manage contradictions, but to ensure radical and rapid socioeconomic transformation. Our people have said through the ballot that they want radical and accelerated change.”

Despite taking a beating in the 2024 elections, Mbalula maintained that his party lost mostly because of a poor voter turnout.

“As much as we did not get over 50% … our people simply decided to stay at home. They didn't go to any other political party. If they went to other political parties, we will be having a total new government in the republic.

“The ANC is still the largest party in South Africa today. That is why, comrades, with that 40% we will deepen transformation. We will pass laws that will deepen transformation — [the] Bela Act, NHI, Expropriation Act…”

‘A chance to correct’

Duma Nokwe served as the ANC’s secretary-general from 1958 to 1969, a pivotal period in the struggle against apartheid. He died in 1978 while in exile in Zambia, during the height of apartheid.

In September 2024, his remains, along with those of 48 other freedom fighters, were repatriated from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The ANC is planning to rebury him alongside his wife, Nomvuyo, on Saturday, 17 May.

Duma Nokwe. (Photo: Jurist / X)

Speaking about Nokwe’s legacy, the ANC NEC member Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said he was an advocate for education, which was evident in his BSc and law degrees.

“He loved his country, he loved the people, he was brave. Revolutionaries are brave. They are not cowards. But he also stood by the truth, even if the truth was going to get him into trouble,” she said.

“We must learn from him to be true servants of the people.”

While high-end fashion, luxury brands and expensive alcohol have almost become the norm in political lifestyles, Dlamini Zuma said Nokwe inspired generations of young people without any of that.

Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma speaking at the Duma Nokwe Memorial Lecture. (Photo: Sharon Seretlo / Gallo Images)

In January, Mbalula made headlines for travelling by yacht instead of the regular ferry that took other guests to a party on Robben Island. In another incident, he arrived at an election manifesto launch in KwaZulu-Natal last year in a luxury car worth more than R4-million, highlighting the growing gap between politicians and the people they represent.

Read more: Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu: I ask with tears in my eyes, renewal, what renewal?

Dlamini Zuma said Nokwe didn’t inspire people “because he wore expensive clothes; he didn’t inspire them because he drank expensive alcohol. He inspired them because he had a sharp intellect, he could analyse, he could debate and he could teach”.

To honour Nokwe’s legacy, Mbalula said ANC deployees must remember that Nokwe’s years in exile were a reminder that freedom came at a great cost — and for that reason, the party must get its house in order.

One of the ways to do this, he said, was by fully committing to the ANC’s renewal agenda.

“Nokwe gives us a chance to reflect and correct ourselves. This process of self-correction is carried out through organisational renewal and rebuilding. We must acknowledge our mistakes and take steps to fix them.

“As we approach the local government elections in 2026, we must return to the basics and ensure that the ANC lives among the communities and champions their everyday struggles.” DM