South Africa's opposition Congress ofthe People (COPE) is blaming the ruling African National Congress (ANC) forintroducing what COPE described as dictatorship into the country's politicaldynamics ahead of this year's elections. COPE leader Mosioua Lekota saidordinary South African should be given the right to chose who governs them andshould not be forced to accept a leader chosen for them. But the ruling ANC sayLekota's criticisms are intended to score cheap political points ahead ofupcoming general elections. Aubrey Matshiqi is a political analyst. He tellsreporter Peter Clottey from Johannesburg some South Africans are questioningLekota's credibility.
"Lekotais not saying anything he has not said before because right from the beginningwhen he announced that he was leaving the ANC before the launch of the Congressof the People (COPE), he indicated that one of the things that they wanted tosee is the change in the electoral system, Including the direct election of thepresident of the country, executive mayors and provincial premiers. Andtherefore this is what he means when he says power must be vested in thepeople," Matshiqi pointed out.
Hesaid some South Africans remember when Lekota was once heavily against changesin the electoral system, the same changes he is now advocating for.
"Therewas a time when Terror Lekota as you know was a senior leader of the ANC and asenior member of government. And as leader of the ANC, he was part of a partythat was opposed to electoral systems reforms. The question for me is whethervoters would believe that he is genuine in calling for electoral systems reformand whether they will believe him when he calls for change. Change based onthings that as a former leader of the ANC he was opposed to in the past," hesaid.
Matshiqisaid Lekota should take responsibility for what he is now describing as a dictatorshipwithin the ruling ANC party.
"Inthe same way it may be true that the ANC maybe a dictatorship, but some willtell you that to the extent that the ANC is a dictatorship, it is partly adictatorship because of the way he led the ANC when he was the chairman of theANC. And therefore, to large extent, I think Mosioua Lekota is playing politicsand I think the question is whether voters will take him seriously or not. Orwhether voters have short memory as to forget the role he played in the ANC's decline," Matshiqi noted.
Meanwhile,the ANC Youth League is accusing South Africa's media of waging what it described as aconcerted effort to create a crisis around the personal and private life ofPresident Kgalema Motlanthe after local media reported on a marital affair ofthe president.
Hesaid the youth wing of the ruling ANC is right expressing its displeasure withthe seeming obsession of the personal life of the president.
"Thereis an obsession with President Kgalema Motlanthe's private life and has takenan inordinate amount of time has been spent to find out whether he is part of ahealthy marriage or not when the country is faced with much more challengesthat the media should be carrying, bearing in mind that in a few months time wewould be having an election," he said.
Matshiqisaid there is reason to believe that all is not well in the ruling ANC partyahead of the upcoming general election.
"Whenyou look at the reported attacks on President Kgalema Motlanthe or unhappinessabout the role he has been playing since he became the head of state inrelation to following up on ANC decisions? several things seem to be happeninghere and you must remember that what we call the Zuma coalition, the coalitionwhich was responsible for removing Mbeki (former South African president) wasunited because of the antipathy towards Mbeki. Now, Mbeki is out of the way andnew competing or even conflictual interest is coming to the fore as a result ofwhich what we have come to know as the Zuma coalition seems to be fracturing,"Matshiqi pointed out.
Lekota's remark comes four days after the launch of hisparty (COPE) branch in Umhlanga. He said South Africans"must not be told by some youngster that this is the leader we have chosenfor you and if you do not vote for him, then 'we will take up arms and killyou'."
He lashed out at the rulingANC, accusing the party of misrepresenting the true meaning of democracy.
Lekota also advocated for changes in the electoral system, contendingthat the country's constitution must be implemented as it was initiallyconceived, adding that ordinary South African's should be granted the power tochoose their leader. He described as a lost of freedom of choice in SouthAfrica if the country fails to desist from allowing the people to choose whothey want as their leaders.