The ANC Women’s League says it is glad that “ the dogs “ have left the party. In apparent reference to rebels Moiuoa Lekota and Mluleki George ANCWL president Angie Motshekga says the party has not gone to the dogs but the dogs have left the ANC.
She is quoted as saying today, “Now that the dogs are leaving, there will be peace and we will be stronger. The dogs … in the ANC … have left,” Reports today say Motshekga expressed disappointment at the call for a convention which could see the formation of a breakaway political party.
“While democracy accommodates the formation of new parties, it is the purpose, the manner, and the timing of the formation of the call for the convention that calls for concern.”
She said she had always known Lekota to be “attention-seeking and very loud” after working with him, adding that the league waited for him to “fly as high as he could” before they could make a public statement about his actions.
Lekota and George were suspended from the ANC a week ago, while former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa tended his resignation in support of the upcoming convention. Lekota has tentatively set December 16 – Reconcilation Day – for the launch of the party.
The league called on all the ruling party members and supporters to defend the organisation and work hard in building a healthy nation. “It is at times like these that we stand in unity to defend our organisation and gains of the new democracy.”
Meanwhile former president of the ANC and the country Thabo Mbeki has ben challenged to publicly denounce and distance himself from party dissidents, the Gauteng Progressive Youth Alliance said on Tuesday.
In a statement the alliance said it was calling on Mbeki to denounce the likes Shilowa and Lekota among others who had expressed their intention to convene a national convention. “This is necessary because these elements were using his name to manoeuvre in attempts to divide, an objective they shall never see,” the ANC-led National Liberation Movement (NLM). “Any continued silence on the part of honourable comrade Thabo Mbeki will be cause for concern.”
The alliance said there was a bigger task at hand and that was to build a non-racial, non-sexist democratic and prosperous society. It further called on all young people and volunteers to join the ANC-led Alliance campaign and ensure that the movement received a decisive majority in the upcoming elections.
