The Sunday Times newspaper is sticking to its guns on the ANC succession article the paper carried last Sunday, writes Sello Selebi.
The article which was ran under the headline, "Mbeki defies ANC" , led to Luthuli House issuing a strongly worded press release labeling the article as a "fabrication" .
The article ran a day after the conclusion of the much-anticipated ANC policy conference at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. The conference deliberated on policy issues ahead of the elective conference to be held in Limpopo during December month.
Many commentators had predicted that the conference would focus heavily on succession issues within the ANC.
"We are a hundred and seventeen percent confident about the accuracy of the story", said Sunday Times Editor-in-Chief Mondli Makhanya .
Makhanya said that the article did not sit well with many within the ANC because it did not contain the "ANC spin" that many expected.
He further stated that, if anything, recent reports have proven that the article was correct. Quizzed on the methods used to gain an insight into the closed deliberations at the conference, Makhanya said that newspaper has a well established and long running relationship with "highly senior" sources across the political spectrum.
