Omar name ‘can’t be used to defend Zuma’
– The family of late anti-apartheid struggle veteran Dullah Omar yesterday distanced themselves from a planned march to parliament by the ANC Dullah Omar region in Cape Town in support of President Jacob Zuma.
The family said it won’t allow their name to be used to “defend the indefensible”.
“Dullah (Abdullah Mohamed) Omar was a man of integrity, honesty and humility,” Omar’s sister, Latifah Omar, said yesterday.
“His words and deeds were based on similar principles, morality and the values of many of the heroes of the liberation struggle, leaders and foot-soldiers.
“He was unwavering, committed, could not be and was not diverted from doing what he felt was necessary to make South Africa a more just, equal and democratic country.
“No inducement of position, power or personal enrichment was powerful enough to change him,” she said.
“This contrasts sharply with the behaviour and actions in recent years of many ANC leaders and members up to and including President Jacob Zuma.
“Neither he [Omar] nor his name, should ever be associated with justifying the reprehensible or defending the indefensible.
“As a family, we cannot allow him to be undermined simply because of his absence.”
The Dullah Omar region in the city has planned to march next week to parliament to support Zuma as he faces a motion of no confidence vote. The region’s leaders said the march was in defence of democracy and the president.
Speaker Baleka Mbete has yet to determine whether the vote on Tuesday would be secret or open.
Latifah Omar said the family has written to the ANC national executive committee, asking the party to remove the former justice minister’s name from the region with immediate effect.
“Just as it does his family, it would have troubled and hurt him deeply that his name be associated with anything but the defence and advancement of the founding values of the ANC and the principles of our constitutional democracy. Both of which he cherished, lived and worked for so hard.
“We hope that out of respect for his memory, our decision and wishes in this regard will be respected, understood and carried out,” she said. – ANA
Johannesburg