The ANC will continue to ”engage” with former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and other members who have grievances, the party said on Wednesday.
”The African National Congress has taken note of the press conference addressed earlier today by former ANC national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota,” it said in a statement.
Lekota on Wednesday served ‘divorce papers†on the party and declared his intention of starting a new political formation to oppose the ruling party in the 2009 elections.
”For its part, the ANC will continue to engage with all and any members of the ANC who have concerns or grievances. It will specifically continue its engagement with Mosiuoa Lekota and any others who may share his views,” it said.
The ANC had a responsibility ”to provide political leadership, and will therefore always act to unite the organisation, the broader democratic movement and South African society”.
”It will not be deterred for one moment from its ongoing work to fight poverty, create employment, improve access to quality education and healthcare, build safer communities, and forge a united nation.”
The ANC would continue with its preparations for the election, determined to receive a renewed mandate to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014, the party said.
Lekota outlined plans to put together a ‘congress†in a few weeks where the name and policies of the new party would be decided upon.
This party would contest the next elections and hoped to draw votes from the ANC.
ANC at ‘breaking point’
The in-fighting in the ANC has reached breaking point, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said on Wednesday.
The ID was ”not surprised” at the announcement, De Lille said in a statement.
She said the ID respected anyone’s constitutional right to form a new party if that was what they decided to do.
”Because there is no new party yet, we cannot comment on what they might do or how they might fare. We need to see their policies and principles first,” she said.
”The Independent Democrats firmly believe that we must all respect the principles and institutions of our democracy and stand against attacks on the courts and the Constitution.
”These developments must not distract us from the real issues facing our people on the ground, like poverty, unemployment, crime and corruption.”
The Inkatha Freedom Party also said Lekota’s announcement came as no surprise.
”The announcement is an anticlimax to those who expected a radical assessment of the crisis inside the ANC and an indication of a way forward,” IFP spokesperson Musa Zondi said.
”That some leaders within the ruling party are re-examining their future with the ANC is hardly surprising to the IFP. The divide within the ANC developed long before Polokwane,” Zondi said.
The IFP respected the fact that the current crisis of leadership within the ANC stemmed from an internal party matter, but South Africa’s second largest opposition party could not ignore the detrimental consequences this was having on the country, given the ANC’s hold on state institutions.
”The financial markets are perhaps drawing their own conclusions from the unresolved crisis as the South African currency continues to slide on the back of uncertainty.
”The country is still looking to the ANC, and to individuals within it, for real and tangible leadership,” Zondi said.