Intensify the corruption fight - SACP

2011-12-16 23:01

Johannesburg - There is no better way of honouring the role and contribution of Umkhonto WeSizwe (MK) cadres than to intensify the struggle against corruption, "tenderpreneurship", misguided militancy and ill-discipline, South African Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande said on Friday.

He was delivering a message of solidarity and support of the armed wing of the ANC, on its 50th anniversary, at Orlando Stadium, Soweto.

"On this day, we call upon our movement as a whole to deal decisively with ill-discipline, recklessness, populism and corruption.

"MK cadres understood that one of the best weapons we could have handed over to the enemy in order to defeat us was ill-discipline and reckless militancy.

"Let us root out all these foreign tendencies within our ranks in order to safeguard the legacy of Umkhonto WeSizwe," Nzimande said.

Different conflicts

He said the SACP was proud that communists had "fought bravely side by side with all other MK combatants from the ranks of the ANC".

Friday also marked Reconciliation Day, known until the end of apartheid as the Day of the Vow, commemorating a 1838 a victory by Boers over Zulu forces.

Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi noted in a statement that two different conflicts in South Africa's history - the Day of the Vow and the anniversary of MK - were being commemorated.

"But just as the Day of the Vow speaks of an end to bloodshed, so too should the focus of MK's 50th anniversary celebrate the fact that armed conflict is part of our past, not our future."

Speaking in Wolmaransstad in North West, Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder expressed concern that Reconciliation Day and the annual commemoration of the 1838 Vow stood opposite each other.

"It is a mistake to try and force Afrikaners to choose between the two - because both are possible," he said.

"In practice it means that there must be enough room for all in South Africa so that no people or cultural group feels threatened or alienated," Mulder said.

He said he was also concerned about the way in which the Afrikaners' history was being portrayed in a largely negative and one-sided manner.

"Of course we have made mistakes in the past but we also made a huge contribution to the economic power and success of this country. A contribution of which we can be proud of," he said.

In its Reconciliation Day statement, Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said it was the responsibility of each South African to vigilantly guard against those in positions of power abusing their power and sewing division.

"Let us renew our efforts to ensure that we achieve a truly free and prosperous South Africa where every person has the opportunity to achieve all they dream of," he said.

"We must work toward a future of delivery, diversity, redress and reconciliation for all."

The DA wished MK well in its celebrations.

- SAPA