South Africa’s new Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka should address the gap between the ruling African National Congress’ words and deeds and speak out against President Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe, says official opposition leader Tony Leon.
In his regular online column on Friday, he said she should begin to address the gap between principles and practice “that forms a chasm at the heart of the African National Congress government”.
Noting that Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former minerals and energy minister, was embroiled in the so-called Oilgate scandal — uncovered by the Mail & Guardian and involving the alleged payment of funds to the ANC through the parastatal PetroSA — he said she should also welcome a formal investigation into the matter.
Leon noted that three months ago, Mlambo-Ngcuka headed the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s Elections Observer Mission to the Zimbabwean parliamentary elections. “Despite the fact that Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF regime had broken nearly every rule in SADC’s Mauritius Protocol for democratic elections, she declared that the elections ‘were conducted in an open, transparent and professional manner’, and that voters were able to ‘express their franchise peacefully, freely and unhindered’.
“Of course, the violence and repression by the government between elections — which Mlambo-Ngcuka failed to take into account — made a free expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people impossible.
“Since then, the crisis has been greatly exacerbated by Mugabe’s Operation Murambatsvina [‘Drive Out Trash’], which has destroyed tens of thousands of homes and made hundreds of thousands of poor Zimbabweans instantly homeless.”
Leon — who leads the Democratic Alliance — said no protest has been forthcoming from either the Deputy President “or the President [Thabo Mbeki] himself. And in the wake of their silence, the Zimbabwe issue now threatens to cancel out the international credibility that President Mbeki gained from his courage in the Zuma affair” — removing Jacob Zuma as deputy president.
“Without strong and principled leadership, without a cure for the curse of the forked tongue, South Africa will suffer an onset of decay in public life that will undermine investor confidence and political stability.
“As Mlambo-Ngcuka has observed, this is her moment. Let her prove her worth in actions, not empty rhetoric, said Leon.-I-Net Bridge