African National Congress (ANC) criticisms of a speech by Moeletsi Mbeki reflect “one-party state” complacency, a political analyst wrote in Sunday’s City Press.
“I think it’s the mindset of a one-party state,” Mbeki, 67, who is also former president Thabo Mbeki’s brother, commented.
“The ANC is such a dominant party they then jump to the conclusion that they are the cleverest people because they have the largest vote and therefore everybody else hasn’t got any wisdom.”
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday, Mbeki said President Jacob Zuma did not have the will or the ability to steer South Africa out of its economic and political difficulties and that the ANC was not the “future for us”.
Mbeki was quoted as saying a steep decline in leadership within the ANC had developed and that politicians running the party lacked intellect and vision.
‘Song and dance brigade’
According to City Press Mbeki was invited to speak about his new book, Advocates for Change — How to Overcome Africa’s Challenges, but “got sidetracked during question time”.
Mbeki had a go at Zuma, referring to his leadership as a “song and dance brigade” and that South Africans should not look for a future within the party.
The ruling party responded by saying Mbeki’s views were “disappointing and baseless”.
“Political analysts should challenge President [Jacob] Zuma on the work that government does and not resort to personal attacks which rather indicate deep rooted bitterness,” Zuma’s spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu also condemned as “disrespectful and disingenuous, the latest barrage of unfair criticism” of Zuma and the ANC-led government. However, Mthembu’s statement was dated 2001, making it unclear whether he was implying Mbeki’s or the ANC’s views come a decade too late.
Long-standing critic
On Sunday Mbeki said he was “not criticising Zuma as an individual” but said government was failing to improve economic conditions for ordinary South Africans.
“So instead of saying ‘what can I learn from the criticism?’, the ANC says ‘this is an enemy I must attack’,” he wrote.
Former president Thabo Mbeki’s brother is a long-standing critic of the ruling party’s policies.
“Even now I’m not criticising Zuma as an individual. I was saying the government is not solving the economic conditions of the people of South Africa. They claimed they could solve them, but they are not doing so,” he said.
He went further that government had been building a class of rich Africans who were consuming a large part of our resources instead of investing them.
He told the press club that, just like the National Party before it, it had created a model that benefited a small inner circle.