Makhura admits Zuma headache for the ANC – report
Gauteng premier David Makhura has called on ANC members not to focus on a single leader, but rather the entire party structure leading into the municipal elections, on 3 August 2016.
The Sunday Times reported that Makhura told voters not to punish the party because of president Jacob Zuma’s leadership.
According to the paper, some alliance members said they did not trust the ANC’s national leadership because of the president.
“If you have an issue with the president of the ANC … my appeal to you is: just appreciate the level of complexity in the ANC. The ANC has had its ups and downs, but it has always been more enduring than its individual leaders. Local elections are always about voting for the municipality,” Makhura said.
“If you want to understand the ANC, don’t look at just one individual. A big problem in South Africa’s political discourse is that people reduce [the] ANC to its leader. … They look at the leader of the ANC and say: ‘We’ve got a problem with that leader and, therefore, we have a problem with that organisation,'” said Makhura.
“What we were taught is that leaders come and go, but the ANC remains,” he said.
The DA earlier this year alleged that Makhura plotted to remove president Zuma from office. The ruling party has seen its grip on power wane in the economic capital.
Read the full report in the Sunday Times – 24 July edition.
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