FORMER president Jacob Zuma has withdrawn from campaigning or voting for his beloved ANC of which he has been a member for 64 years, to vote for the newly registered Umkhonto Wesizwe party.
This is despite him insisting that he is still a member of the party until his last days.
Zuma launched an attack on the current president of the ANC and country, Cyril Ramaphosa, calling him a proxy of white monopoly capital and insinuating that he had ended his party's future.
He made the announcement at a special press briefing at the Ipeleng Centre in Orlando East, Soweto, on Saturday.
During the announcement that was made by his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, he said it saddened him that he had to make that decision after so many years.
“After much reflection, it truly saddens me that the ANC of today is not the once great movement that we loved and were prepared to lay down our lives for.
“I believe that it is not enough to withdraw from the ANC campaign which will lead our people to more misery, poverty, racism, unemployment, deepening load shedding and a government led by sellouts and apartheid collaborators. It is also our duty to guide our people on what to do in order to save our revolution from its enemies and to achieve the society envisaged in the Freedom Charter.
“I therefore wish to announce that in 2024, I will vote for the Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) Party. It has already been registered with the IEC with my knowledge and blessings, in response to various pleas expressed to me by some religious leaders,” Zuma said.
Zuma accused Ramaphosa of suspected fraudulent manipulation of conference outcomes.
He was referring to the party’s elective conference that took place in Nasrec, where Ramaphosa defeated Zweli Mkhize for the ANC presidency last December.
“Given the death of democratically elected structures of the ANC and the role of money in determining electoral outcomes since the CR17 scandal of blatant white monopoly capture of the organisation and the suspected fraudulent manipulation of conference outcomes, I have full sympathy with those comrades who believe that the ANC can no longer be saved from within its non-existent structures,” Zuma said.
He said something more bold, creative, and dramatic needed to be done “by those who love the real ANC”.
“Firstly, the ANC kept quiet when the powers of the President were taken away in the appointment of the Chair of the Commission on so-called State Capture. This symbolised an opportunistic amendment of the Constitution of South Africa.
“Secondly, the ANC kept quiet when it became clear that the 2017 national conference and the position of President had been stolen or bought by forces outside of the organisation for an amount ranging between the R300 million, which the President admitted under oath, and the estimated R1 billion or more, found by the Public Protector in her BOSASA report in which Ramaphosa was fingered.
“Thirdly, the turning point for me was the misguided statement made by the ANC President, that the ANC is Accused Number 1 for Corruption in South Africa. Neither the leadership of the ANC in the NEC nor the membership at the most recent national conference saw the need to challenge or change that incorrect statement.
“Fourthly, the ANC expelled its Secretary-General using the selective application of the so-called step-aside rule but will now allow the President who is also facing criminal charges to top its list for the next election.
“Fifthly, the ANC stood idle when 400 black people were massacred in KwaZulu-Natal following the avoidable July 2021 unrest caused by the Constitutional Court and Mr Raymond Zondo due to my imprisonment without trial under the ANC of Ramaphosa.
“Sixthly, the last straw was when, due to the Public Protector’s 31 questions in the investigation of the Phalaphala scandal, she was suspended and then impeached by the ANC, DA and Freedom Front working together. I have now been told that the ANC of Ramaphosa has decided to vote in favour of the impeachment of Judge President Hlophe and Judge Motata. The ANC of Ramaphosa has declared war against progressive black professionals and intellectuals.
“Lastly, the ANC of Ramaphosa has plunged the country into darkness with load shedding which has ruined the economy. This could have been easily avoided by keeping the best management which successfully prevented load shedding and adopting nuclear energy many years ago. Today we are told that nuclear power has suddenly become affordable,” he said.