DA: Zuma claim anti-democratic

2008-05-05 16:07

Cape Town - ANC President Jacob Zuma's reported claim that the ANC rules by divine right displays the anti-democratic attitude of an absolute monarch, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday.

"We condemn it," DA CEO Ryan Coetzee said in a statement.

Zuma reportedly told a party rally in Khayelitsha on Sunday that even God expected the ANC to rule the country, because it was the only organisation blessed by pastors when it was formed.

Said Coetzee: "Mr Zuma is no democrat. His campaign for the ANC presidency was more a bid for power than a struggle for internal freedom in the ANC.

"The idea that there is now an 'opening up' in politics, and that the ANC is now providing 'credible opposition' to the executive is destined to last precisely and exactly until the rulers of Luthuli House capture the Union Buildings, probably at the election next year.

"Then it will be back to 'democratic centralism', albeit with Mr Zuma and his backers in the SACP and Cosatu at the centre."

Zuma, and his "coterie of adoring supporters", needed to accept that voters "allow" parties to govern, not the ANC, Coetzee said.

- SAPA