African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula on Friday urged law enforcement authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the recent Johannesburg fire, saying those responsible for this tragedy must be brought to justice.

At least 74 people died and dozens others were injured in a fire at the Usindiso Building in the Johannesburg central business district on Thursday morning.

Mbalula was briefing the media in Soweto ahead of the party’s 2019 Manifesto Review and National Working Committee (NWC) meeting to be held in Soweto on Sunday, where he said a thorough investigation must be conducted to prevent future incidents.

He noted that the safety of inner city buildings, including those that are illegally occupied, should be the municipality’s top priority.

“It is with great sadness that we express our condolences for the tragic loss of life resulting from the fire. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims, and we wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured,” Mbalula said.

The party urged its Johannesburg structures to work with government agencies and NGOs to assist those in need.

HINDRANCES IN COALITION GOVERNMENTS

Meanwhile, Mbalula noted the NWC’s reiteration that the party is still committed to the process arising from the recent National Dialogue on the Coalition Framework hosted Deputy President Paul Mashatile, however, he said the ANC’s focus is primarily on achieving an outright electoral victory in the upcoming 2024 National General Elections.

“The ANC recognises the need to improve its service delivery, which has been hindered by coalitions that have failed to work. Unfortunately, instead of prioritising local government service delivery, the political opposition attempts to consolidate the Moonshot Pact, which is essentially an unprincipled front against the ANC,” he said.

Mbalula announced that a review of 513 ANC public representatives in the 6th administration, in Parliament, in the National Council of Provinces and in Provincial Legislatures was on track and had been finalised.

He said the NWC remained committed to strengthening the organisation as part of its renewal programme. Among the urgent tasks was the robust upgrading of the party’s membership system.

SUCCESS OF BRICS SUMMIT

The NWC reflected on the recent Brics Summit, hosted in August, and commended President Cyril Ramaphosa for the “positive impact” that came from hosting the summit in the country.

“It was noted that the huge positive impact was achieved against the backdrop of doomsayers, some of whom sought to defocus us through the possible attendance by President Vladimir Putin of Russia whilst simultaneously indicted by the International Criminal Court whose statutes we have ratified as South Africa,” said Mbalula.

He said the NWC noted that whilst the party’s posture was that Brics was not competing against the G7, there was, however, widespread comparison in public discourse.

The NWC re-iterated the stance that Brics represents the shifting of the international balance of power in favour of multilateralism and it is also a pursuit of progressive internationalism as an antithesis of the dominant era of a unipolar world characterised by unilateralism.

The NWC also noted and commended the important bilateral meetings involving Brazil President Lula Da Silva and the ANC.

Mbalula explained that the ANC also had bilateral engagements with Minister Sergey Lavarov of the Russian Federation and the party joined Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at Freedom Park to honour the contribution of Cuba in the liberation of Southern Africa from the apartheid regime.

He noted that these engagements at a party level would give impetus to the ANC’s fifty-fifth conference resolution which called on the party to ensure “progressive internationalism in a changing world”.