ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula sparked laughter, criticism, and a flood of memes after remarks he made at the ninth Ehlanzeni Regional Conference. Addressing the ongoing perception of corruption within the ANC, Mbalula argued that it was “statistically irresponsible” to label the entire party corrupt — even if, as he joked, 99% of members have been caught on CCTV stuffing taxpayer money into Woolworths bags.
“Look, you can’t generalise,” Mbalula said, clutching a microphone stand that observers quipped looked suspiciously like a repurposed tender document. “If 99% of members are corrupt, that still leaves 1% — and that 1% is working very hard to keep the ANC’s image squeaky clean. Please, stop insulting them. They are running out of soap.”
He went on to claim that the party has made “progress” in how it supports accused members. “We don’t wear T-shirts to court anymore,” he said proudly. “We now send Whatsapp of support.”
On accountability, Mbalula offered what he called a “refreshing” approach: “When someone steals R100 million, we immediately ask them to step aside… to Dubai. After a few months, they come back with new ideas on how to steal better next time.”
Opposition parties wasted no time in responding. The DA accused Mbalula of “gaslighting the nation,” insisting that 99% corruption is still corruption. The EFF added its own jab, saying: “If the ANC is keeping 1% of its members clean, we demand they nationalise that cleanliness and share it with the rest of the country.”
On social media, South Africans turned his speech into satire. One viral post read: “You can’t say KFC is unhealthy just because 99% of its menu is deep-fried.” Another quipped: “Mbalula says the ANC isn’t corrupt. My load shedding schedule disagrees.”
Still, Mbalula remained defiant: “We will not be defined by corruption. We will be defined by our ability to deny it with straight faces — and comrades, we are getting very good at that.”
