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Cape Town — In an unprecedented move, former minister Ronnie Kasrils and former deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge have called on South Africans to take a stand against fraud and corruption by spoiling their votes in this year’s elections.
According to the Sunday Independent, the campaign, Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote No!, by the two senior ANC members is to be officially launched at Wits University tomorrow. However, ANC struggle veterans and loyalists have slammed the move by the two saying they are disillusioned, disgruntled and bitter.
The Sunday Independent reported that the aim of the campaign is to get people to either not vote for the ruling party or to spoil their ballots in protest against corruption and current government policies.
In an interview last month with the Mail & Guardian, Kasrils said he was unable to tell people to unequivocally vote for the ANC. He said at the time that the ANC has had 20 years to prove itself.
Meanwhile, Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Saturday apologised to former president Thabo Mbeki’s mother and to the people of the Eastern Cape for having helped recall the former president and for replacing him with “nothing”, reported the Sunday Independent.
According to the newspaper, Malema made the statement while addressing about 2,000 EFF supporters at a rally in Mdantsane, East London. Malema also apparently met with AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo who left the ANC for the DA last year.
According to the newspaper, Malema said he met with Mbeki’s mother and apologised for having been party to the recalling of her son. He said the ANC Youth League, which he was leader of at the time, had been “misled”.
l Former DA Cape Town metro chairperson Grant Pascoe has reportedly described party leader Helen Zille as neurotic and said his defection to the ANC was his way of “sticking it to her”.
According to the Sunday Times, Pascoe has accused Zille of lying and has said his decision to defect had been a long time coming. He denied allegations that he had financial problems and that he had accepted a car and R1 million to join the ANC.
Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said last week she was not informed by Pascoe of his intentions to jump ship. She claimed however, that Pascoe had “chosen to find a new political home due to his inability to live up to the standards required of DA public representatives”.
She listed what she described as several shortcomings in his performance. — Sapa
Online Reporter