ANC stands firm, tells EFF to ‘bring it on…’
JOHANNESBURG: The African National Congress (ANC) yesterday dared the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on an urgent motion of no confidence the opposition party had lodged against President Jacob Zuma with National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete.
“Well, bring it on EFF… theirs is an effort to try to destabilise the revolution and we are equally determined for them not to succeed,” said ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte.
The red berets lodged the motion with Mbete, requesting that it be part of the order paper at yesterday’s National Assembly sitting. Mbete was yet to decide on the EFF application.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the ANC had a principle that in Parliament, ANC MPs represented the views of their party and “no one does as they wish” ordeviates from the organisation’s decisions.
“No one does as he or she wishes… that is why there is a caucus, where the party discusses issues, takes decisions and takes those to Parliament and executes the decisions. Anybody who wants to be a free agent must go contest the elections as a free agent… there is this assumption that the ANC is a free-for-all and that people should follow what they decide for the ANC,” said Mantashe.
He said anyone who felt they did not want to follow the ANC party line and its programmes should decide whether they wanted to leave because the party “will release you if that is the case”.
The ruling party’s top leadership emerged from an extended bruising national executive committee meeting that saw Zuma survive the onslaught by several ministers who requested that he step down.
It was reported that the ministers who wanted Zuma gone threatened to step down from their posts in the cabinet.
Mantashe said “no mass resignations” were expected in the party. Mass resignations would have serious consequences for the ANC, he added, “because we are a movement, we are not an organisation of people having come together through some conscious.
“We are an ideological organisation… so we cannot be a free-forall.”