Opposition parties came out in support of the national convention on Saturday, praising the initiative as historical and a significant step towards changing the political climate of the country.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille was greeted with loud applause as she took to the podium and said the convention would be looked back on and considered a turning point.
She said it was important to fight corruption, take a stand against people who sought political power for gain and against those who threatened to kill in the name in politics.
”Hier toe and nie verder [Here and no further],” she said. ”The policies of the past are outdated.”
Zille reiterated that a multiparty democracy was the way of the future because it championed equality for all people and not just the few.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille echoed Zille in saying that the convention had the potential to change the political landscape. She said the day also heralded the breaking down of the African National Congress.
”The once proud liberation movement has lost its way. The values, the visions and the ideals of the struggle have been forgotten,” she said.
Inkatha Freedom Party stalwart Lionel Mtshali said he attended the convention on behalf of the party to show support for those who felt that the Constitution was fundamental.
”Those in power serve the Constitution and not themselves. Our Constitution has been betrayed and in many respects obliterated.
”The people of South Africa have been forgotten, our political struggle has been hijacked,” he said.
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe brought the gathering to booming laughter when he said those who remained on the ANC Titanic should jump before they sunk.
”We believe this is not the time to sing about machine guns, but time to roll up our sleeves and make South Africa a multiparty democracy.”
Meshoe also praised those who had broken away from the ANC for not retaliating when they had been insulted, saying this showed a strong moral foundation and a leadership that did not pay lip service.
Leader of the United Democratic Movement Bantu Holomisa was the last of the political party speakers, but the crowd had lost no enthusiasm and he was given the biggest applause.
Holomisa, looking towards splinter group leader Mosiuoa Lekota, said he had attended the convention to give moral support. ”Moral support to build an alternative and that such an alternative should reflect the breakdown of demographics in the country,” he said, adding that such an alternative needed to be led by someone who already understood the struggle for democracy.
Urgent application
Earlier, more than 4Â 000 delegates had gathered at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg for the eagerly awaited South African National Convention (SANC), which will serve as a precursor to the forming of a new political party that will take on the ANC at the polls.
An urgent application on Friday by the ANC to stop the convention from calling itself the SANC was postponed until next week by the Pretoria High Court. The ANC insisted that the application was not an attempt to stop the convention, while the leaders of the convention said this was the case.
Some of the delegates were dropped off at the convention centre on Saturday in the buses that they had to sleep in on Friday night due to bungled accommodation arrangements. Others arrived in swanky BMWs and convertible Mercedeses. The more affluent delegates were sporting Polo handbags, while others carried their belongings in plastic bags.
Surprise guests attending the convention included former president Thabo Mbeki’s brother, Moeletsi, as well as the legal adviser to Thabo Mbeki, Mojanku Gumbi, while the handful of former ministers that were expected did not turn up.
The first session was chaired by former communications director general Lyndall Shope-Mafole, who on Friday resigned from the ANC, where she served as member of the party’s highest decision-making body, the national executive committee (NEC). She is the daughter of ANC veteran Gertrude Shope.
An opening prayer that referred to the ANC as being on the wrong path was met with ardent ”Amens” from the floor, and Shope urged delegates to stick to struggle songs that ”build” and do not insult other people.
She also said one of the values that the convention must revisit is timekeeping, given that the conference started two hours late.
Speakers included former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa and Lekota, who both denounced the ”abuse of power” by the ANC.
Lekota referred to the ”campaign of attrition by the ANC” that led to the removal of councillors, mayors, premiers and ultimately recalled Mbeki as president.
Unisa vice-chancellor Barney Pityana told delegates the country is being ”held hostage” by people who have forgotten their values in politics.