ANC IS NOT FOR SALE: MKHIZE
ANC presidential hopeful Dr Zweli Mkhize said a new era of change was on the horizon for the embattled organisation, and reiterated that the ruling party was not for sale.
Mkhize was delivering the Bertha Gxowa Memorial Lecture in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, this week when he stated that the party’s branches had had enough, and that more and more people within the party refused to be bought.
“It does not matter how much ... we refuse to be bought,” he said.
Mkhize will go head-to-head for the position of ANC president against the incumbent, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the ANC’S national conference next month.
Over the years, the Ramaphosa administration has had to shield itself from widespread allegations of vote-buying which surfaced after he won the 54th elective conference by a narrow margin against Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Looking at the current number of nominations, Ramaphosa has 2 037 while Mkhize received 916, making the race for the presidency of Africa’s oldest liberation movement a two-horse race. When Mkhize was asked why he still had the urge to challenge Ramaphosa while the deficit was big, he said he was nominated by branches who wanted him to usher in a new era for them. “The branches have indicated that they want a leadership that will focus on the implementation of the policies and resolutions of the ANC. I express my appreciation to the branches that have nominated me overwhelmingly. The fact that I am on the ballot box is an indication that most of the branches have confidence in my ability,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize has also been urged to consolidate and find middle ground with other presidential contenders, and when asked if he was willing to work with NEC members Lindiwe Sisulu and Dlamini Zuma, he said discussions were currently ongoing. “There are discussions involving ANC structures as we head toward the national conference. Following the culture of the ANC, this is the period for persuasion and exchange of ideas of what are the best solutions to the challenges we face in society.
“We can confirm that leadership, especially KZN leadership and other leaders in other provinces and nationally, are engaged in negotiations with ANC structures in order to find common ground,” Mkhize said.
He added: “We will end factions and ensure that leaders pull in the same direction, and that everyone must feel as valued in the ANC, and that each leader and member of the party must be allowed to contribute to ensure the longevity and effectiveness of the organisation. We have high unemployment, soaring to levels last seen during apartheid. Inequality is the worst in the whole world,” he said.
Mkhize said fuel and food prices were raging uncontrollably high. “Poverty has once again returned to decimate even those whose lives had improved at the end of apartheid. Corruption, crime, violence, gender-based and femicide, aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse, has reached epidemic proportions.
“As leaders of the ruling party we must accept our failures, apologise and commit to do things differently to restore the hope of our people in the ANC as the instrument for liberation in the hands of our people,” he said.
Mkhize said there was a need to re-ignite the hope and correctness of people’s belief in a better life for all South Africans, and the creation of the national democratic society.
“This is a society where all the basic needs have been met and the legacy of apartheid has been eradicated to usher in a more equal society.
“But we have here an opportunity to flex our muscles, roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done to position our movement as a powerful force of resilience and adaptability. When the ANC was banned in 1960, the leadership cohort of OR Tambo was confronted by a daunting task of recasting, rebuilding and reconceptualisation of the ANC.
“Today we are faced by the same set of challenges, be it in a different context. We have every capability of recasting, rebuilding and reconceptualising the
ANC presidential hopeful Dr Zweli Mkhize said a new era of change was on the horizon for the embattled organisation, and reiterated that the ruling party was not for sale.
Mkhize was delivering the Bertha Gxowa Memorial Lecture in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, this week when he stated that the party’s branches had had enough, and that more and more people within the party refused to be bought.
“It does not matter how much ... we refuse to be bought,” he said.
Mkhize will go head-to-head for the position of ANC president against the incumbent, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the ANC’S national conference next month.
Over the years, the Ramaphosa administration has had to shield itself from widespread allegations of vote-buying which surfaced after he won the 54th elective conference by a narrow margin against Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Looking at the current number of nominations, Ramaphosa has 2 037 while Mkhize received 916, making the race for the presidency of Africa’s oldest liberation movement a two-horse race.
When Mkhize was asked why he still had the urge to challenge Ramaphosa while the deficit was big, he said he was nominated by branches who wanted him to usher in a new era for them.
“The branches have indicated that they want a leadership that will focus on the implementation of the policies and resolutions of the ANC. I express my appreciation to the branches that have nominated me overwhelmingly. The fact that I am on the ballot box is an indication that most of the branches have confidence in my ability,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize has also been urged to consolidate and find middle ground with other presidential contenders, and when asked if he was willing to work with NEC members Lindiwe Sisulu and Dlamini Zuma, he said discussions were currently ongoing.
“There are discussions involving ANC structures as we head toward the national conference. Following the culture of the ANC, this is the period for persuasion and exchange of ideas of what are the best solutions to the challenges we face in society.
“We can confirm that leadership, especially KZN leadership and other leaders in other provinces and nationally, are engaged in negotiations with ANC structures in order to find common ground,” Mkhize said. He added: “We will end factions and ensure that leaders pull in the same direction, and that everyone must feel as valued in the ANC, and that each leader and member of the party must be allowed to contribute to ensure the longevity and effectiveness of the organisation. We have high unemployment, soaring to levels last seen during apartheid. Inequality is the worst in the whole world,” he said.
Mkhize said fuel and food prices were raging uncontrollably high. “Poverty has once again returned to decimate even those whose lives had improved at the end of apartheid. Corruption, crime, violence, gender-based and femicide, aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse, has reached epidemic proportions.
“As leaders of the ruling party we must accept our failures, apologise and commit to do things differently to restore the hope of our people in the ANC as the instrument for liberation in the hands of our people,” he said.
Mkhize said there was a need to re-ignite the hope and correctness of people’s belief in a better life for all South Africans, and the creation of the national democratic society.
“This is a society where all the basic needs have been met and the legacy of apartheid has been eradicated to usher in a more equal society.
“But we have here an opportunity to flex our muscles, roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done to position our movement as a powerful force of resilience and adaptability. When the ANC was banned in 1960, the leadership cohort of OR Tambo was confronted by a daunting task of recasting, rebuilding and reconceptualisation of the ANC.
“Today we are faced by the same set of challenges, be it in a different context. We have every capability of recasting, rebuilding and reconceptualising the ANC in order to adequately respond to the challenges of the day.”
Mkhize said each delegate to the ANC’S 55th national conference owed it to Gxowa to ensure that they elected strong candidates who were brave.
He said Gxowa and other women made it clear that they were part of a struggle, and the struggle was their fashion.
“At that time many people thought that the Women’s Day march would not succeed. Today, when you talk about August 9, we talk about a day which reminds us about the struggle for equality for women which is integral to the Struggle for the liberation of all South Africans. These are the women who taught us that there can never be a Struggle for liberation unless it addressed the oppression that is faced by women,” said Mkhize.
Speaking on the latest Concourt judgment by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo about the release of the late SACP leader, Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus, in connection with getting parole, Mkhize questioned the concept of reconciliation.
“We cannot have a leadership that fails to understand the psyche of its own people. Mam’ Gxowa went all over, but she never misrepresented the people’s thinking ... because she was in touch with the people. Leadership that is not in touch gives you the wrong diagnosis, like a doctor who looks at you from a distance and does not examine you and give you treatment for a headache while you have a stomach ache,” said Mkhize.