South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was re-elected head of state for his second term on Friday, has criticised the writings of selected commentators portraying a gloomy picture of the thumping African National Congress victory last week.
In his weekly column, ANC Today, on the ruling party’s internet site, Mbeki said the Los Angeles Times edition of April 15, carried comments ”by some of our compatriots”.
It reported University of Witwatersrand politics Professor Tom Lodge as saying that the ANC was ”likely to dominate for 10 more years” and that ”it’s a matter of how much that party is prepared to play by the rules, and how much it’s going to allow other parties to grow”.
Mbeki goes on to say: ”It also quotes Patrick Laurence, misleadingly described as a political analyst of the independent Helen Suzman Foundation, as saying that ‘the ANC’s commitment to democracy was untested because its majority has been so huge’.”
Laurence, clearly referring to the nearly 70% of the vote achieved by the ANC on April 14, went on to say: ”The real test is when your majority is dwindling and there’s a real prospect of becoming a minority. The test is whether the ruling party is prepared to yield power, and we don’t know yet how they will react. It’s quite sobering.”
Mbeki also referred to the LA Times quoting a white voter, Anjanette Phillips. It said Phillips recalled growing up under South Africa’s last white president, (the National Party’s) FW de Klerk. ”Lots of people say, ‘I wish I could have that government back’. It’ll never be the same. We used to have open doors, open windows. Today, you have to be locked up in your house.”
Mbeki said such comments made it look as if all the problems of South Africa were the result of ANC rule ”and that the absence of a popular rebellion against our movement was due solely to the magic of (former President) Nelson Mandela.”
Readers would conclude that the ANC constituted a threat to democracy and therefore should be stopped from getting a two-thirds majority, argued the president.
Mbeki said the LA Times — and others — seemed to be averse to telling the truth that all the major problems confronting the people of South Africa ”are part of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid”.
”We also know that they are unwilling to tell the truth that both in 1999 and in 2004, the objectives spelt out in the ANC manifestoes did not require any constitutional amendments.
”Similarly, they will not and have not told the truth that the manifestoes of the same opposition parties that accused the ANC of being a threat to democracy contained objectives that would necessitate constitutional
changes.”
He was clearly referring to some opposition parties’ support for the death penalty. – I-Net Bridge