Mantashe: Let them go

2008-10-16 22:54

Johannesburg - A breakaway party by former ANC chairperson Terror Lekota will poach more voters from opposition parties than from the ANC, its secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday.

"It is obvious to us that this breakaway is not in the interest of the poor or the working people... it is in the interest of the so-called disillusioned and disgruntled ANC members," said Mantashe.

"It is a self-serving initiative by people obsessed with power," he told a Black Management Forum conference in Johannesburg.

He said opposition parties were quick to welcome the announcement by Lekota that a national convention would be held to discuss the possibility about a new political party.

"They are hoping this convention is going to split the ANC [but] what is expected may not be the actual outcome."

The reality was that a new party formed by Lekota, who had been suspended by the ANC, would be "centre-right".

"It is more likely to appeal to the constituency of many opposition parties," said Mantashe.

He said the ANC wanted Lekota to leave the party.

"We must not create speed bumps for everybody who wants to break away. We must allow them to go - even those who are not yet sure... we must facilitate their movement."

Mantashe said the ANC members who lost their positions at the Polokwane elections in December first attempted to hijack provincial conferences and schemed to bring a vote of no confidence in ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

But the plan did not succeed and now that group wanted to form a new party.

Mantashe said the ANC said to Lekota: "We are not your enemy, we are not going to be fighting you, but for God's sake, you cannot be doing that [calling a convention] within the structures of the ANC."

The "opportunistic element" within the movement will see a new party as an opportunity for "upward mobility", added Mantashe.

The ANC had decided to go ahead with its diary as planned.

"What the ANC decided to do, is to continue with its own programme. We are not going to bring [events] forward because Terror [Lekota] is having some campaign," said Mantashe.

The tripartite alliance would host its economic summit on Friday and the decisions made there would be fed into its manifesto.

"We are not just preoccupied with the split and the splinter, we are thinking forward," said Mantashe.

- SAPA