‘No reform in the ANC is possible’

DA LEADER Mmusi Maimane has described President Jacob Zuma’s speech at the ANC’s 105th birthday celebrations yesterday as the “telltale last gasp of a dying organisation”‚ saying it has shown that it is beyond the point of no return.

“It is an out-of-touch and divided party unable to self-correct‚ and past the point of no return‚” Maimane asserted in his reaction to what is likely to be Zuma’s last January 8 Statement to his party faithful unless he opts for a third term as ANC leader.

Maimane said that following the ANC’s results at the polls in August last year‚ one would have expected a humble and introspective reflection on the past year‚ and a meaningful commitment to effect real and substantive internal change.

“Rather‚ we were force fed another rose-tinted ‘ good story’ by a president who has overseen the party’s decimation over the past seven years. While the rest of the country looks forward‚ the ANC can only fondly recall its former glories‚” the DA leader said.

“While the ANC celebrates in lavish style today‚ we live in a country where nine million of our people are without work‚ and have given up any hope of finding a job. We live in a deeply unfair and unequal society‚ where the colour of your skin still determines your chances of succeeding in life. And this is only worsened by the ANC, who run a dishonest government‚ putting their friends first and the people of South Africa last.”

Maimane said people no longer trusted the ANC‚ and last year’s election had shown just that.

“After almost 23 years of democr words and empty rhetoric are simply not enough. Long-winded recitals of ‘good story’ statistics do not create jobs or feed hungry South Africans.

“While the focus of 2017 will be on the election of the new president of the ANC‚ South Africans are beginning to realise that no reform in the ANC is possible. Whatever happens in December 2017‚ the ANC will remain committed to corruption‚ insider trading and unemployment.”