Factions within the African National Congress (ANC) are bringing the entire country into disrepute and causing uncertainty among investors, said United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa on Saturday.
”The so-called new NEC [national executive committee] of the ANC is threatening to remove those who resist them, but they have not been clear about what exactly this ‘resistance’ is. In the process they are bringing the entire country into disrepute and causing dangerous uncertainty in the minds of investors,” he said.
Holomisa was addressing the UDM provincial council in Standerton, Mpumalanga.
He said the signs of a purge are already visible and will affect service delivery because the civil service under the ANC has become ”incredible politicised”.
Holomisa said the UDM has identified an urgent need for a national debate and consensus on several matters. This is why it has proposed to sponsor a national convention that operates outside the confines of party politics.
He said the convention would deal with the economy, crime and corruption, threats to the judiciary, education, the role of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and social cohesion– racism, tribalism and xenophobia.
”The lack of service delivery … has been occasioned in many areas by the infighting in the ruling party. How long must the nation wait for this disease in the ruling party to heal itself? What if it’s forever?” Holomisa asked.
He said there is a need for a convention to review South Africa’s progress since 1994 and chart the way forward. ”As South Africans we can’t simply fold our arms and watch our country going down the drain. We are told the economy is doing well, but out in the streets we see so much suffering.”
Holomisa complained about false promises made about service delivery by the ruling party for the past 14 years and described them as ”propaganda”.
”ANC government style is not different from the apartheid regime’s approach when it comes to propaganda,” he said. — Sapa