The African National Congress (ANC) stalwarts have upped their anti-President Jacob Zuma sentiments at a time of uncertainty about the country’s leadership.
In a statement, the stalwarts said their objective was to build a people-centered society interested in the plight of the poor and marginalised, a feat the current leadership is allegedly deviating from.
They termed their objective, a ‘People’s Democratic Appeal’ calling for a mighty people’s movement to ensure that the country acted together to revert to its task to create a truly people-centered society.
The sentiments come at a time of planned protests by political formations, civil society and businesses nationwide also demanding that Zuma step down.
Declaring themselves as loyal, longstanding and disciplined ANC members, the stalwarts said it was essential to revert the party to its mandate of serving the nation through its people-centred approach.
Also read: Veterans of the ANC add their voice to the growing chorus for Zuma to go
This as they criticised recent developments, including Zuma getting rid of efficient cabinet ministers while retaining dead wood on the strength of a discredited intelligence report and doing so in a non-consultative manner they said was contradictory to the party’s objective to ‘improve the quality of life of all citizens and to free the potential of each person’. Other accusations include Zuma cosying up to the Gupta family, a dubious and costly nuclear deal with the Russians and his condemnation by the Constitutional Court.
Their sentiments were said to be part of an ongoing process of engagement with the National Executive Committee for a special national consultative conference which they said was being stalled by a prevaricating national working committee with the potential to derail the cleansing and renewal of the party.
They said the leadership has:
- Caused a grave political crisis in the country
- Systematically destroyed the party, its allies and the rest of the mass democratic movement
- Entrenched systematic corruption in public affairs and consistent and sustained abuse of political positions to serve individual and corporate interests
- Organised weakening, corruption and destruction of the legally constituted organs of the State
- Lost the capacity of the party and government to lead the country out of its enormous structural challenges
- Disintegrated the social fabric of society through grossly negative and sustained social crisis
- Emasculated the leadership’s ability to lead the country out of poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment, inequality and economic stagnation
- Led to a deepening socio-economic crisis with disastrous consequences for millions of people already living in sub-human conditions
- That the leadership has become rotten from the head in the last few years.The mighty people’s movement seeks to galvanise the participation of the broad party membership and all mass democratic formations in the country’s renewal.
Edited by Stacey Woensdregt
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