‘I warned it would end in tears’ — Carl Niehaus says Mbalula shouldn't have got head of elections gig

Former ANC staffer Carl Niehaus has taken aim at the party’s head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, claiming he had long predicted it would end in tears.

Niehaus took to social media over the weekend to lament the ANC’s poor performance in the recent local government elections that saw the party lose all Gauteng metros to a coalition of opposition parties.

Niehaus said he objected to Mbalula’s appointment and warned it would “end in tears” .

“When this clown, and blower of hot air Fikile Mbalula was made ANC head of elections I warned it will end in tears. I do not find any pleasure in saying ‘I told you so’ because our beloved liberation movement suffers severely,” he tweeted on Sunday.

The ANC’s votes dipped below 50% nationally to 45,6%, compared to 53,91% in 2016. 

Attempts by TimesLIVE to get comment from Mbalula were unsuccessful at the time of writing this article. Any update will be included once received.

In a media briefing after the conclusion of municipal council sittings last week, Mbalula admitted the ruling party failed to convince voters to show up for the ruling party at the polls.

“If the ANC does not implement its renewal programme the people will never be on our side. 

“What is that renewal programme? A changed organisation that is going back to its values. An organisation that does not only exist for families, for individuals. An organisation that is firm about corruption, an organisation that is serious about governance,” he said.

In the same briefing, Mbalula accused the public broadcaster of turning voters against it with its TV programme Service Delivery Gauge. He said the SABC programme exposed the party’s weaknesses.