By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former ANC President Thabo Mbeki has labelled his successor Jacob Zuma’s term of office as Head of State and party President as counter-revolutionary years.
Mbeki was addressing the ANC’s elections commission at the NEC Lekgotla in Boksburg.
The ANC has suspended Zuma from the party. This comes more than a month after he announced his support for the newly formed uMkhonto Wesizwe party.
“It is counter-revolution that produced failure and disaster for the ANC,”said Mbeki.
Mbeki said, Zuma’s term of office has immensely contributed to the bad narrative the ANC government suffers today”.
He told the commission that between 1994 and 2007, the country’s economy was performing well – there was growth in the GDP, economy and less crime, but from 2008 to date, things changed dramatically.
The ANC knew Zuma was likely to turn out this way, from as early as 1997, when it elected him deputy president to Mbeki, paving his way to the highest office in the land.
The ANC bashed the judiciary as counter-revolutionary for unfavourable judgments against Zuma. The party claimed his prosecution was political persecution at Mbeki’s behest. Then ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema declared they were prepared to kill and die for Zuma.
Zuma’s eventual ascendancy to the presidency of the country in 2009 was hailed, by the alliance left – Cosatu and the SACP.
He survived numerous motions of no confidence in parliament, Among the notable no-confidence votes against which the ANC-dominated parliament shielded Zuma was over his use of public money to renovate his private homestead in Nkandla.
The stage was set for Zuma to wreak havoc with impunity. The alliance left only started to move away from him when it became obvious that he had outsourced the running of the country to his friends, Gupta family.
The only way to terminate his membership is to expel him. This should have happened much earlier, at least before the ANC’s 112th anniversary festivities earlier this month.