Calls have been growing for Mkhize to resign or be fired over the health department’s irregular multi-million-rand contracts with Digital Vibes – the company linked to his close associates.
JOHANNESBURG African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has described ongoing calls for Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to step down as an occupational hazard.
He said people should really be asking to allow for investigations into the allegations, adding that once the truth had been established, then action must be taken.
Mantashe was speaking during a Zoom lecture on revolutionary morality hosted by the ANC in the Sarah Baartman region of the Eastern Cape on Thursday night.
Using his own experiences as mineral resources minister, Mantashe said he has faced numerous calls for him to be axed.
Calls have been growing for Mkhize to resign or be fired over the health departments irregular multi-million-rand contracts with Digital Vibes the company linked to his close associates.
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Mantashe said if the party listened to opposition leaders calling for the axing of its ministers, it would be left with no one.
ALSO READ: Mkhize must step down over Digital Vibes scandal, says DA’s Gwarube
Weighing in on the reaction to his fellow comrade Mkhizes current crisis, Mantashe said some things were just an occupational hazard.
As a mineworker, when I go underground, I cant avoid dust and its effects when I work underground. That is like that when you are leading a portfolio that is critical and busy like health today.
WATCH: Mkhize denies benefitting from irregular Digital Vibes contract
While at pains to bring up the state of some of the countrys municipalities in the presence of journalists, Mantashe questioned those in attendance about the quality of local government spearheaded by the ANC.
Our municipalities that are supposed to be led by revolutionaries are almost a disaster.
The ANC is on what some have termed a PR campaign to clean its image, which has resulted in some changes to its candidate selection process, with the process expected to wrap in August.
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