Intelligence Minister Bongani Bongo claims that senior ANC leaders, including those from his home province of Mpumalanga, are behind a smear campaign to tarnish his name.

Speaking to Sowetan, Bongo claimed that these leaders were supposed to celebrate that President Jacob Zuma had appointed one of the youngest people to his cabinet. Instead, they were jealous.

Bongo said those from his province were angry because Zuma did not inform them when he appointed him.

Several allegations against the minister have surfaced since he was appointed, including how he received kickbacks on a land deal and how he attempted to bribe the parliamentary evidence leader on state capture into Eskom in an effort to collapse the inquiry.

Although he refused to divulge names of these leaders who wanted to tarnish his name, he told Sowetan the case on the land deal was an old case of 2011 and now because of his appointment, the matter was being discussed.

On the Eskom matter, he admitted that he met "that chap about 15 weeks ago when I was a member of parliament to discuss legal issues as he is a lawyer and I'm one too".

"I have never promised him money or anything. To my surprise, just when I was appointed a minister, he writes an affidavit. But as the process is now in the hands of the ethics committee in parliament let [us allow] the investigation [to] continue. I will give the process my attention and I want to see who is lying here."