Mbalula claps back at booing youth — ‘you can’t remove me!’

Fikile Mbalula

Cape Town – ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has hit back at ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members who booed him during the league’s second National General Council (NGC) in Kimberley, saying it was “wrong” to vent frustrations on him when decisions were taken collectively.

The incident followed discontent over resolutions from the party’s 9th regional conference in Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga.

Mbalula warned that no one could intimidate or remove him from his elected position.

“I was told when I was coming here that I was going to be booed by my comrades from Mpumalanga because they are not happy about the outcomes of a conference in Ehlanzeni. Let me tell you, I run the ANC, and I belong to a collective, and nobody will intimidate me,” Mbalula told the gathering in Kimberley,” the report quoted him as saying.


“You can boo me for decisions of the ANC, but you can’t remove me. I was elected at the conference. I belong to a collective. You cannot use the platform of the ANC to come and boo the secretary-general of the ANC because you’re unhappy with the outcome of a conference in Ehlanzeni; that is wrong.”

According to The Citizen, Mpumalanga ANCYL chairperson Bethuel Zunguza later issued an unconditional apology, condemning the booing and pledging disciplinary action against those involved.

However, the row escalated when ANCYL president Collen Malatji withdrew an earlier apology for calling the National Dialogue a “tea party,” insisting the NGC had endorsed the label, the report said.

Mbalula also used the Kimberley gathering to declare that the ANC will no longer shield members accused of corruption, as the party seeks to restore public trust ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

As reported by IOL, He said accountability and service delivery would be the party’s focus, stressing: “Gone are the days when a comrade was accused of corruption, and we sang along with him or her on the way to court.”

The ANC will convene a “roll call” of councillors on 15 September at FNB Stadium in Soweto to issue what Mbalula described as “marching orders” for accelerating service delivery.

The party’s NEC is also set to meet over the weekend to finalise the directives that President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver at the event.

Mbalula praised ANCYL president Malatji’s leadership, urging the league to play a central role in the ANC’s “renewal agenda,” while ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile called on young people to mobilise ahead of the 2026 polls.

He warned that declining voter registration and turnout, coupled with the ANC’s historic loss of majority in 2024, made the upcoming elections a crucial test for the party and the country’s democracy.

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