Mbeki, Zuma both 'unimpressive'

2007-11-23 12:15

Cape Town - ANC President Thabo Mbeki and his deputy Jacob Zuma are both unimpressive candidates with a tendency to flout democratic principles, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday.

Writing in her weekly letter, Zille said it would be sad if the ANC delegates at the party's December conference chose to elect either Mbeki or Zuma as the party's President.

"They both have support of substantially different constituencies inside and outside the ANC... yet both share a commitment to what the ANC calls the national democratic revolution - about which there is nothing democratic and which takes precedence ever above our constitution," she said.

She said Mbeki's record, and his endorsement of the National Democratic Revolution had set the scene for power abuse.

"During his tenure, Mbeki has concentrated power in the presidency, fostering cronyism rather than competence, at the expense of state delivery and accountability," she said.

The independence of state institution, Zille said, was steadily diluted during Mbeki's term.

"The prosecution service targets his opponents otherwise known as ?the enemy' - and the prospect of executive control looms for the judiciary.

"Parliamentary oversight is in danger of being shut down, and SABC television has increasingly become a narrow, party-political mouthpiece for the ANC," she said.

If Mbeki retained his position as ANC president, he would effectively choose his successor, "and these destructive trends are likely to continue."

On the other hand, Zille said Zuma was not an option either.

"It is clear that he owes significant political debts to the populist wing of the ANC, and he will repay his allies through deployment and patronage," she said.

Instead of focusing only on Mbeki and Zuma, the ANC should nominate candidates committed to restoring the country's standing as a constitutional democracy.

"Such candidates are available within the ranks of the ANC. They have been pushed to the margins while the two leading elephants trample the vegetation around them," she said.

- SAPA