I read the article by Mandla Nkosi (if such a person exists) suggesting that ANC regions are pushing for the removal of the Free State Premier. It forms part of an increasingly familiar pattern from Insider Chronicles and Central News. These outfits appear to have positioned themselves as political pressure points rather than credible news platforms.
No constitutional structure of the ANC in the Free State has taken a formal decision or passed a resolution calling for the recall of Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae. None whatsoever. In the ANC, deployments and redeployments are not initiated through anonymous media briefings or recycled gossip. They occur through formal organisational processes and recognised structures. The article provides no such evidence because none exists.
To claim that “four out of five regions” are calling for the Premier’s removal, without a single resolution or official statement, is not an omission but a deliberate distortion to advance other interests.
More troubling is the platform itself. Insider Chronicles functions less as an independent watchdog and more as a hostile pressure outlet thriving on confrontation with the Premier. Its business model appears driven not by public interest but by sensationalism. Politicians who refuse to accommodate its demands are subjected to sustained hostile coverage, often thinly sourced. That is not journalism; it is intimidation through repetition.
A familiar pattern has emerged: a story appears in Central News and is later republished by Insider Chronicles, often with no new information but heightened language. The effect is to manufacture the illusion of multiple confirmations when, in reality, it is the same unverified claims circulating within aligned interests. It is an echo chamber, not an investigation.
The reliance on anonymous “ANC members” and “party insiders” is a technique not to protect whistle-blowers, but to shield factional actors advancing internal agendas while avoiding accountability. The article does not disclose the identities of these sources wtheir respectivepositions or wtheinterests they represent. Their claims are amplified and repackaged as organisational revolt.
Serious allegations of sabotage of the January 8 celebrations are made without documentary evidence or confirmation from role players. Even the Premier is not afforded a meaningful right of reply. Extraordinary allegations are treated casually. That is not journalism; it is political campaigning.
Service delivery is invoked repeatedly but never measured. There is no engagement with Auditor-General reports, budget data or municipal performance indicators. Instead, service delivery becomes a floating accusation, detached from evidence and weaponised to support a predetermined conclusion.
The facts remain: there is no formal recall process, no regional resolution demanding the Premier’s removal and no substantiated evidence supporting these claims. What exists is factional politics amplified by opportunistic media platforms presenting speculation as inevitability.
The people of the Free State deserve better than internal party contestation and media intimidation repackaged as fact.
Kgotso Morapela is an ANC member in the Xhariep Region of the Free State, writing in his personal capacity. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of this publication (Journal News).
