Mbombela - Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza said on Thursday that he has never killed anyone and that all allegations against him come from people who hate him.
“I have heard the allegations levelled against me that I'm a spy, I'm corrupt and I killed people. First, let me say this, I was not just dropped from heaven,” he said at a press conference.
He said he was participating in an African National Congress branch, then went to lead the region and became MEC before he became premier and chairman of the ANC.
“All those allegations were not there, but I noticed that the moment I assumed my office as premier, I could not even sit; Mpumalanga was on fire, people protesting. Of course I understood why fire; it's because I emerged as chairperson of the ANC.”
A Sapa correspondent reported that he was responding to allegations that he could be a former apartheid spy, that he was responsible for political murders in the province and that he hired people to violently disrupt a memorial lecture on Sunday where former ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa and SA Communist Party were expected to speak in Kanyamazane.
Mabuza said six months into his office, journalists started writing articles in which his ex-wife was quoted.
He said he asked the media to leave her alone because they had a child together.
“Today, five or six years down the line people are saying I'm corrupt without proof... In the eyes of the people this is a corrupt leader. Now 2009, 2010, the very same people came with a story that I'm a killer, I killed people, I killed Jimmy Mohlala and I killed Sammy (Mpatlanyane).
“I'm sorry Pinky (Mpatlanyane) to talk about your husband... Well I'm working with Pinky in the office, the wife of the person they said I have killed.
“I killed no one. I'm not corrupt and I'm not a spy,” he said.
He said that up to today, if someone had information that DD had killed a person, there were law enforcement agencies to report to.
He questioned why no one ever accused him of being a spy until recently.
“Late last year a story emerged, 'DD is a spy.' He was working with the apartheid government. All these years you have worked with a spy. When did you know that DD is a spy?,” he said.
“I worked within the ranks of the ANC and of government but today because DD is premier, I'm a spy. Today I want to tell you, this is a concerted effort of people who have an uncontrollable desire to lead the ANC.”
He said the things said about him were said by people who hated him and who were hell-bent to lead the ANC he was leading. He said the people who made up the stories about him wanted to be premier.
“Unfortunately there is a cancer that went into the ANC, people are fighting for positions,” said Mabuza.
Mabuza said he was happy that his enemies had come out in the open.
“It's a blessing because everything was happening under the carpet, but this time I'm prepared to take this matter to the final end to clean this province from these string of lies.”
He said that the time had come for him to expose people.
Mabuza said there was no war between the ANC and the SACP, but that an individual hated him. He did not name the individual.
Mabuza said he would do his best to unite the province.
Sapa