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Reject Zuma ultimatum - DA
13/01/2008 22:24 - (SA)
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki should reject Jacob Zuma's "ultimatum" to implement resolutions taken at the African National Congress' Polokwane conference, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Sunday.
"President Mbeki must not allow the government to be dictated to by a couple of thousand ANC delegates," she said in a statement.
Addressing the ANC's 96th anniversary celebration in Atteridgeville at the weekend, Zuma said in his first public policy speech as ANC president that the party had to implement at the conference resolutions "without delay".
"We reiterate that there should not be any apprehension about relations between the ANC and its government, which may hinder implementation," he told the rally.
"Those deployed in government cannot undermine the ANC. Should this happen, we will take very serious action." Faction
Zille said Zuma's "ultimatum" was another clear indication that Zuma was putting a faction of the party above the people.
"There is no indication that the Polokwane resolutions are the will of the general voting public, neither is there any evidence that the resolutions reflect the will of ANC voters," she said.
"When the ANC was elected to office in 2004 it was on the strength of a manifesto that did not contain the resolutions decided on at Polokwane."
She said it had to be remembered that Zuma's support within the ANC did not translate into support from the wider voting public, and there were in fact indications that a substantial number of South Africans would reject a Zuma presidency.
Only when Zuma had fought and won a national election would he be able to legitimately say he had a mandate from the South African people to dictate government policy, she said.
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