By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe says his comments about the party loosing elections was borne out of frustration.
Motlanthe kicked off his campaign trail on Friday in Soweto and will proceed to Ekurhuleni on Saturday.
The party has already deployed former president Thabo Mbeki to campaign for the party in a bid to retain their majority in the province.
It is also expected to release among others the former premier Tokyo Sexwale to level the field.
The governing party narrowly won Gauteng by 50.19% in 2019 which was a dip from the 2014 results which saw them amass 53.59% share of the votes.
In 2017, In the interview with BBC Hardtalk, Motlanthe said the electorate will vote out the ANC for as long as it is “associated with corruption and failure”.
“It would be good for the ANC itself and let me tell you why – because those elements who are in it for the largesse will quit it, will desert it and only then would the possibility arise for salvaging whatever is left of it,” Motlanthe added.
He said the ANC could renew itself, but it would require “lots of courage and failing that it has to hit rock bottom”.
“It has to lose elections for the penny to drop,”Motlanthe told Hardtalk.
On Friday, he explained the remarks as borne out of frustration with the ANC, as he felt the party “couldn’t hear the cries of the people.”
The ANC is fighting to retain its outright majority in the May 29 general election, with some predicting the party could drop below 50% nationally for the first time since 1994.
“In 2017, I did make the point that perhaps the ANC has lost the ability to hear the cries and criticism of its support base and that perhaps that message would be made loud and clear if the ANC were to lose elections.
“It wasn’t a prediction or a wish but rather a plea to the leadership of the ANC to open up its ears and hear the cries of the ordinary people.
“It’s always important to have the context about at what point was a certain comment made, to what end, and in that way, there is no confusion about it. So, there is no contradiction because even then I said I was going to vote for the ANC, “added Motlanthe.
Motlanthe has also defended the ruling party’s timing of its disciplinary action against former party leader Jacob Zuma.
Zuma last year threw his weight as leader behind the newly formed political party uMkhonto weSizwe party (MKP) and encouraged the electorate to vote for the party in the May polls.
The ANC previously indicated there was no need to take action against its former leader as he had voluntarily left the organisation. This is despite Zuma maintaining that he was still a member of the governing party.
Motlanthe said the organisation had to ensure that it was fair to the former ANC leader.
“The organisation has to ensure that it follows proper procedure because in all cases of ill-discipline, there are two standards to measure fairness. The first one is whether you have a substantive case against the individual. The second one is whether you followed fair procedures. So procedural fairness is one of the tests for being fair and just to whoever you have a relationship with as an organisation.”
Zuma is accused of contravening the ANC constitution when he publicly endorsed the MK party and when he appeared on the candidate list of the party.
The former president also weird in of Zizi Kodwa’s emanate arrests saying he knows that he will have to step aside after being charged.
According to the State Capture Commission’s report, Kodwa received over R174 000 from embattled businessman, Edwin Sodi.
The Commission also described Kodwa as being beholden to businessman and former EOH Executive, Jehan Mackay.
In 2022, Kodwa denied this and indicated that he would take the report on judicial review.
“There are clear guidelines and rules in the ANC. There’s even the step-aside rule so whoever gets charged formally, they know themselves that they have to step aside from whatever positions of responsibility that they occcupy. So, if the NPA is building a case against Minister Zizi Kodwa, we wait and see because we have no way of being privy to that information and what they do. Our role and concern as an organisation is always to ensure that there is fairness and just procedures followed here.”
Fullview also understands ANC officials have called for an investigation after the report by Motlanthe found that the party’s list submitted to the IEC had been altered.