For sake of country’s future…
Veterans urge SACP to back Zuma no-confidence vote
ANC VETERANS have asked the SACP to support a vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma.
They also appealed to the communists to put pressure on the ruling party to allow its MPs to exercise independence when voting on the motion in Parliament on August 8.
This plea was made by ANC veteran and former City of Joburg municipal manager Trevor Fowler in his address to delegates at the SACP’s 14th national congress in Boksburg yesterday.
Fowler said the ANC under Zuma had rolled back major achievements that had been made since 1994. He said since Zuma came into power, the country had been plagued by massive corruption. What was more regrettable was “the refusal of leaders to attend to the crisis”.
Fowler said the veterans had compiled a report, For the Sake of Our Future, and handed it to the ANC president and his national executive committee.
The document detailed all the accusations of corruption against the ANC government, saying the primary aim was to get them to address these issues.
According to Fowler, the document was given to the ANC in November last year.
“We wanted the party to do an introspection of itself. We wanted them to ask ‘What did we do wrong? What did we do that brought us here?’ ”
He said none of the issues had been attended to, and instead, in May this year, the ANC had told veterans it would set aside two days for a consultative conference ahead of the policy conference.
Fowler added that the ANC never bothered to convene a meeting with the veterans to discuss the contents of the document.
He said he had been taken by surprise by comments made by Zuma when he addressed delegates at the conference opening on June 30.
He said Zuma had claimed that the veterans were undermining the intellect of ANC branch members.
Zuma also told delegates in his opening address that he was surprised that ANC branches were doing nothing about the veterans’ calls for him to step down.
“You are quiet when people are taking away your powers. Any decision for me to step down should be taken by branches. Power lies with the branches and not so-called veterans,” he had said.
But Fowler maintained Zuma had misled delegates, accusing him of trying to avoid discussing the crisis facing the country.
He said the ANC’s tardiness in dealing with the issues of corruption within its ranks would result in voters drifting away from the party.
Another concern raised by Fowler was that political assassinations had increased significantly in the past 12 months. He attributed this to the alleged capture of the Hawks and the SAPS.
A similar view was expressed by SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande during the tabling of his political report this week.
Nzimande said most of the victims were SACP members, who were allegedly killed by ANC members.
We wanted the party to do an introspection