Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille has once again challenged African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma to a public debate.
The ANC leader called himself a ”firm democrat”, yet time and time again he had declined to join her and other politicians on a public platform to debate issues of national importance, she said in a statement on Wednesday.
”Zuma has ducked the opportunity to debate me on at least five occasions this year,” she said.
Zille was responding to a remark made by Zuma during an interview with Business Day after his party’s manifesto conference at the weekend.
He reportedly told the newspaper: ”I am a firm democrat. There can be no issue that cannot and should not be debated.”
Zille said Zuma needed to be true to his word and debate with her in public.
”A real test of robust democratic discourse is … whether the ruling party is able and willing publicly to debate the opposition, so that voters can hear opposing views, weigh up the respective merits of those views, and draw their own conclusions,” she said.
Meanwhile, The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has warned the ANC to stop making ”mocking and irreverent” references to Jesus.
”Their habit of joking about and using the name of the Lord in vain is tantamount to blasphemy, and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms”, ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe said in a statement on Wednesday.
He further warned that the ruling party’s claim it would rule until Jesus returned was arrogant, and ”will cause them to lose the privilege of governing South Africa”.
The ACDP deplored and rejected a recent comparison — made by ANC Free State leader Ace Magashule — of the ”unrighteous and unholy” ANC president Jacob Zuma with Jesus.
”In spite of what the recent opinion polls said, the writing is on the wall for the ANC that has no respect for God. The ACDP warns them to cease immediately from their irreverent and mocking references to a Lord we love and respect,” Meshoe said.
On Sunday, Magashule reportedly told an interviewer: ”Jesus was persecuted. He was called names and betrayed. It’s the same kind of suffering Mr Zuma has had to bear recently, but he’s still standing strong. He’s not giving up.” — Sapa