Cape Town - ANC NEC member Bheki Cele will have to explain what he meant by his recent comment on portable toilets in Cape Town, the party's national chairwoman Baleka Mbete said on Thursday.
“On Monday, we had this discussion as the top six of the ANC... and concluded that we were going to call him,” she told reporters in Cape Town.
“So, Bheki is on his way to come and engage us with us and clarify what he actually said.”
Cele reportedly told Philippi residents in Cape Town at the weekend that he supported their fight for proper service delivery, particularly with sanitation.
“Those poty poty [portable toilet] communities must give a taste and give those that don’t have the luck of experiencing poty potys. I'm saying somebody took a decision to deliver these things to other human beings...,” he was quoted as saying on eNCA's website.
Mbete said the media had jumped to the conclusion that Cele had spurred residents on to dump faeces in privileged areas.
She had heard him explaining his comments on radio afterwards.
“[I think he meant that] in the same way as this is a delivery to the informal settlement, it can also be delivered to Constantia. Do you hear the difference?” Mbete asked.
“It's not saying go spill the contents. That's what he is explaining.”
Mbete said they would wait to hear from Cele and address him directly on his comments should there be a reason to.
While she did not like the form of the comment, she understood and accepted the principle of the fight for proper sanitation.
Cape Town was hit by a number of human waste dumping incidents last year by people protesting about sanitation in informal settlements.
Many believed the portable flush toilets (PFTs) being rolled out by the city were no better than the bucket system.
Last month, two of the ringleaders of the protests, Loyiso Nkohla and Andile Lili, were welcomed back into the African National Congress fold following a provincial disciplinary committee decision.
The committee upheld their appeal based on technical flaws in the regional disciplinary committee's proceedings.
Nkohla was expelled from the party following his involvement in last year's dumping of human faeces during protests in the city.
Nkohla and Lili, a former City of Cape Town councillor, were charged with, among others, bringing the ANC into disrepute.
Lili was given a suspended three-year sentence, disqualifying him from participating in ANC activities for one year.
Sapa