ANC Provincial Executive committee member Andile Lili on Saturday called the entire National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC corrupt.
"The reason why the NEC is always claiming responsibility... it is because they are all afraid. If they keep on pointing fingers at President Jacob Zuma, they might be in trouble on the basis that they themselves might be exposed of the corruption they are doing in government," Lili said.
"So, we cannot comrades - when it comes to the crisis that we find ourselves in - [only] point a finger to an individual by the name of comrade Jacob Zuma."
Lili was speaking at a meeting of the ANC's Ward 52 in the Langa sport complex where the branch nominated Mathews Phosa for ANC president. Nominations are officially set to open in June.
Lili said it was hypocritical of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to suddenly criticise Zuma.
"Comrades, in 2012 we wanted to save the ANC. The SACP defended Jacob Zuma, the SACP defended corruption," Lili said.
"In 2012, we wanted comrade Kgalema Motlanthe to take over the reins of the ANC. They refused - the SACP, Cosatu, all of them comrades - they were in support of Jacob Zuma."
Lili also blamed the Gupta family for the current leadership of the ANC.
"The Guptas sponsored that conference in Mangaung. Today we call them leadership on the basis of Guptas," he said to applause from the audience.
During his speech, Phosa said he supported Lili's actions to empty buckets with faeces at the Cape Town International Airport in 2013 in protest against the use of portable toilets.
"I have observed comrade Andile very closely, and the day they went to the airport... I sent [him] an SMS and I said 'I salute you'," Phosa said.
Phosa said he agreed with Lili that the current leadership of the ANC is stealing from the people.
"Comrade Andile wants all these persons who are involved [in the ANC national leadership] to go to jail. I agree with him," he said.
"[They are] not only stealing from us, they are stealing with their children." -- News24