Leon: ANC tells 5 big lies
2004-03-05 17:31
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki should think twice before accusing opposition parties of scaring people, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday.
He was commenting on Mbeki's criticism, in his weekly website column, of opposition parties for scaremongering and raising false fears among the electorate in the run-up to the April 14 election.
Writing in his own weekly newsletter, Leon said it was Mbeki himself, "through his outright lies about opposition parties", who had used fear "to terrify the voters".
"What is far more interesting than the lies that the ANC tells about the DA are the lies that it tells about itself. We must confront each of these 'Big Five Lies' with the truth, Leon said.
Lie one was the ANC had delivered, created jobs, reduced poverty, and fought crime and corruption in the past ten years.
"The truth is that the ANC has failed dismally to deliver on its promises to the South African people."
At least 600 000 jobs had been destroyed in the formal sector in the past decade, and many of the jobs the ANC claimed to have created were not proper jobs at all.
While a few people had been lucky enough to escape poverty, life had become worse for the majority of South Africa's poor.
Government's own documents showed the percentage of households living in poverty increased from 28 to 33% over the past decade.
The latest survey by the Institute of Security Studies showed that 22.9% of the population, or roughly 11 million South Africans, were victims of crime last year - only 2% down from 1998.
The second lie was the ANC had an effective and exemplary HIV and Aids policy.
However, the ANC's policy on HIV and Aids was a complete disgrace, Leon said.
The Medical Research Council recently reported that "the proportion of recorded deaths among young and sexually active adults has risen sharply over the past six years" by roughly 44%.
Lie three was the ANC government was doing everything it could to help Zimbabwe.
"The truth is that instead of doing everything possible to help resolve the crisis, the president and the ANC have given both tacit and explicit approval to the continued abuses of democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe."
The fourth lie was the ANC had a credible plan for the future of South Africa.
"The truth is that the ANC does not intend to offer new policies. The reality is that the ANC is merely offering South Africans more of the same policy failures.
The fifth lie was the ANC was a democratic and non-racial party.
"The truth is that under President Thabo Mbeki, South Africa has abandoned the non-racial idealism of the Rainbow Nation and the politics of reconciliation. The president does not really care about reconciliation unless it happens on his own, racial, terms" Leon said.
- SAPA