/ 17 December 2012

Zuma won’t fly: Forces of Change discredits Zuma

Part of the pamphlet handed out by the Forces of Change.
Part of the pamphlet handed out by the Forces of Change.

As ANC delegates prepare to cast their vote for the new leadership at the national conference in Mangaung, a pamphlet discouraging delegates from re-electing Jacob Zuma for the presidency has been distributed.

Printed on ANC colours and apparently coming from the Northern Cape, the pamphlet urged delegates to "save the ANC from President Jacob Zuma because more than anything he is a liability to the cause of liberation and freedom".

It gives out a website address and two Twitter handles, @ChangeANC and @SaveANC, at the bottom.

"Forces of Change, who will take the ANC forward, should be given the responsibility to lead the ANC," read the pamphlet bearing a pro-change slate.

It also juxtaposed pictures of Zuma's Nkandla homestead with a picture of an informal settlement as the homes of his followers.

The pamphlet lists 23 points it says are Zuma's failures in both the party and government.

Some of the prominent alleged failures include:

  • Failing to get the two-thirds majority in the 2009 general elections
  • Failing to bring unity in the ANC after Polokwane
  • Reshuffling Cabinet more than three times in one term but keeping ministers like Angie Motshekga in education and Susan Shabangu in mining
  • Spending R2-billion to build his own town at the expense of rural development
  • Spending R208-million to upgrade his private home while claiming to have sleepless nights because he's worried about poverty
  • Punishing comrades for having different views 

The pamphlet also mentioned qualities of an ideal ANC leader as documented in the

"Through the eye of the needle" document. Delegates are expected to know late tonight who winners of the ANC's top six positions are. They will then vote for the 80-member national executive committee tomorrow.