Mthembu rejects Zuma assertion that ANC parliamentary caucus is factional

ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu has rejected President Jacob Zuma's assertion that the party's parliamentary caucus is factional in its exercise of oversight on ministers and state-owned companies.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC's watershed elective conference taking place at Nasrec in the south of Johannesburg‚ Mthembu said he was not apologetic about his leadership of the ANC parliamentary caucus.

Mthembu said the ANC had resolved long ago to tackle corruption in government departments and publicly-owned companies and his parliamentary caucus was merely fulfilling that resolution by holding ministers and CEOs of public firms accountable on how they managed public funds.

The ANC chief whip said Zuma was wrong to suggest that the party's parliamentary caucus had become factional in how it tackled ministers.

"He is wrong…there's absolutely no factional caucus. All that caucus does is to act on the mandate it gets from our movement. Our movement said as deployees we must act on corruption.

"As deployees of the ANC in parliament we are acting on anything that smacks of corruption whether it be with Eskom and any other body. We'll continue acting on that mandate to fight corruption whenever it rears its ugly head‚" said Mthembu.

In his political report delivered to the ANC conference on Saturday‚ Zuma lashed out at Mthembu's parliamentary caucus‚ claiming it had been turned into a platform to fight the party's factional battles.

Zuma proposed that conference should come up with a resolution to tackle the matter.

ANC MPs have come out tough on ministers implicated in allegations of state capture and parliament is currently conducting a no-holds-barred inquiry into allegations that the Gupta family‚ who are close friends of Zuma‚ had captured Eskom.