Former African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Terror Lekota and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa on Monday invited the South African public to attend their national convention to be held on the weekend.
The convention would serve as a platform where the organisers of the new party, to be launched on December 16, could take stock of responses from the public, Shilowa said.
The ideas and issues would help to form the basis of policy formation for the new party.
The convention was to ensure dialogue and conversation between all interested South Africans, to determine what problems or issues they had, or would like discussed in the national political sphere.
The convention will be held on November 1 and 2, with provincial delegates set to arrive and register on October 31.
Any interested person could get his or her issues on to the agenda, which would be discussed at the convention or in the convention’s sub-commissions, the organisers said.
The convention will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Speaking at the Business Centre in Rivonia, Shilowa said on Monday that the group had been having trouble with finding a venue because universities in the Free State, where they had wanted to hold the convention, were in their examinations period and could not accommodate them.
The group initially wanted to hold the convention in Bloemfontein, then planned to move it to Pretoria, then reverted back to Bloemfontein, before settling on Sandton.
Introductions and main speakers would open the convention. Plenaries and open discussions would follow.
The convention would then divide into related commissions to discuss issues such as social development, youth topics, the protection of the Constitution, the defence of democracy and the issues of poverty and electoral reform.
The convention would end on Sunday with reports from the commissions and closing speeches.
It was hoped that a declaration could emerge from the confluence of ideas.
‘Appropriate action’
Meanwhile, police warned on Monday that they would take action against hate speech by politicians, who are making increasingly tough remarks about a planned breakaway from the ruling party.
”When you talk like you want to wage a war against other people, that is against the law. So, definitely actions will be taken against such people,” South African Police Service spokesperson Phuti Setati said in an interview on South African public radio.
”Appropriate action is an action that will definitely see to it that hate speech … is not committed,” Setati said.
The warning came as leaders of the ANC have hurled insults at dissidents who plan to hold a convention on Sunday to lay the groundwork for a breakaway group.
The head of the ANC Women’s League, Angie Motshekga, described the dissidents as ”dogs”, while ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema called them ”political imbeciles” and their leader a ”monster”.
ANC activists have also staged protests over the last week to disrupt rallies by the dissidents, who have been campaigning across the country to drum up support for their movement ahead of elections next year.
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has condemned such actions by its supporters, saying they dented the image of the country.
”When you create chaos and anarchy deliberately, you undermine the confidence of the people of South Africa. You also dent the image of the country as a stable, growing democracy,” he said on the radio.
”We are going into elections. If you whip up emotions, you could very well lay down the foundation for a number of problems. I would really appeal to all those concerned to calm down and act in a responsible manner.” — Sapa, AFP