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Zuma 'dreams' of gun-free SA
17/04/2007 17:37 - (SA)
Donwald Pressly
Cape Town - There were times when he was on his own contemplating fighting crime in South Africa that his thoughts turned to removing the guns from everyone and starting afresh with a gun-free country, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club at a city hotel, he said: "At times I say [to myself] why don't we remove the guns from everybody... start afresh."
In a speech marking the need to continue the struggle for a non-racial nation where minorities felt comfortable, Zuma made this point that one needed a country "that is free of crime".
He said it was a critical issue facing the nation and needed the effort "of all of us".
Zuma, however, also noted that in the rural areas - such as Nkandla where he comes from in KwaZulu-Natal - there were few policemen if
any at all. If there was a matter to report to the police it took the whole day for the police to arrive. Poverty
Zuma, who repeatedly said that he was not campaigning for the presidency of the African National Congress when it comes up for election in December, said the other key issue facing the nation was the struggle to defeat poverty.
The nation had to understand the need for education and literacy because
many people in South Africa found themselves unemployable "in a world that is becoming so technological".
Zuma, who was dismissed as the nation's deputy president two years ago amid charges of corruption, said that political stability was a key issue which underpinned a stable society. With political stability followed economic stability.
All leaders of all parties should strive for political stability, he said. Woman as president
Asked if he would support a woman as president of the nation - such as his ex-wife and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - he said the party would decide on this matter. The ANC had fostered the participation of women in leadership positions, he argued.
Asked if he had his own ideas about who should be president to follow Thabo Mbeki, he said answering such a question "is not right" and would not be fair.
The ANC is holding its national conference in December at which the party's presidency, deputy presidency, national chairmanship and top executive positions will be up for election.
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