'ANC must copy DA to stop losing votes'
2011-04-15 15:28
Johannesburg - If the ANC copied the DA it might stop losing votes, DA
leader Helen Zille said on Friday.
"You have to wonder why the ANC don't just copy us, because if they
did, they might stop losing votes," Zille said in a speech prepared for
delivery in Mangosuthu Village in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga.
Zille said the ANC was "too divided" to do even the basics of
government right.
"The internal competition over positions, jobs and tenders is too
fierce," she said.
"That is why the ANC cannot deliver basic services where it governs.
The councillors are too busy dividing up the spoils of office to think about
delivery.
Internal battles
"They are too busy fighting their internal battles to worry about the
people they are supposed to serve."
The Democratic Alliance won 36% of the vote in a by-election held in the
area in July last year, up from 8.7% in 2006.
Zille said it was because of its internal divisions that the ANC had hardly
campaigned for the election.
"Its structures are more interested in fighting with each other about
who the candidates are to worry about the voters.
"Don't just take my word for it. [Congress of SA Trade Unions general
secretary] Zwelinzima Vavi has already warned the ANC that if it doesn't get
its act together, the DA will win power soon."
Zille said the ANC reminded her of "two big dogs fighting over a
bone".
"They are so busy fighting each other that they forget about the bone.
And, while they are busy fighting, another dog comes along and takes the bone
away from them."
- SAPA