Zuma doubtful of ANC unity call

Former president Jacob Zuma has cast doubt on the genuineness of the ANC’s unity narrative and has questioned whether some party leaders meant what they said when talking about unity within the organisation.

Zuma has also called on the ANC leadership to take a leaf out of the book of the generation of party leaders like Oliver Tambo‚ Nelson Mandela and Moses Kotane.

Delivering the Nelson Mandela Lecture, organised by the King Cetshwayo district municipality at the University of Zululand on Wednesday‚ Zuma deviated from his prepared speech to talk about the contribution made by the three leaders in shaping the ANC.

However‚ he singled out Kotane‚ saying he needed to be celebrated more for his contribution to the ANC “because one day when his story is told we will realise how much [of a contribution] he made”.

He said Kotane had not taken on the kinds of tasks that would make him like Mandela – whom he called the Moses of Africa – but said he‚ Mandela and Tambo had allowed each other to express their views without suppressing them.

“And those leaders allowed each other to express their strong points to the maximum.

“They did not suppress them. That is why leaders could be more prominent while others were prominent too.

“It’s unfortunate. That generation meant what it said.

“If only we can also raise the kind of leadership‚ because the ANC is the vehicle to change South Africa.”