Cape Town – ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has dismissed reports about a controversial trip to Libya aboard a luxury jet owned by cigarette tycoon Adriano Mazzotti as “sensational” and baseless.
City Press reported that Mbalula flew from Lanseria to Benghazi in August aboard a Falcon 900 business jet, with the trip costing about R1.7 million.
He reportedly returned via Entebbe due to insurance restrictions on keeping the plane in Libya overnight.
The only major event in Benghazi at the time was the AU’s Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) conference, yet Mbalula was not listed among official delegates. He initially declined to explain the purpose of his trip or who paid for it.
In a statement released on Sunday, Mbalula said the report was an attempt to smear his name, insisting his visit was legitimate and above board.
“The article’s shoddy patchwork of citing Ministerial rules, financial affairs of the ANC, AU conference is a clear demonstration of the levels of desperation to drag my name in the mud.
Rejection of Baseless @City_Press Article pic.twitter.com/HKifRn4IyN
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) October 26, 2025
“My trip to Libya was above board, and there was nothing shady about it. As a secretary-general I get invited to many countries in the continent and beyond for a variety of reasons. Many of these trips take place away from public glare. I find it rather curious that City Press expects this trip to be any different,” said Mbalula.
He accused the media of spreading rumours and said he had instructed his lawyers to explore a defamation case against City Press.
“If reputational damage through innuendo and rumour-mongering becomes the order of the day, we would be allowing our country to slide down a dangerous path where the rights of citizens are at the mercy of those who seek to sell newspapers through salacious headlines.
“It is for this reason that I am instructing my lawyers to investigate a case of defamation,” said Mbalula.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
