ANC Statement, 18 February 2015 Ms Haffajee's Remarks The African National Congress has noted remarks about the State of the Nation Address attributed to City Press Editor, Ferial Haffajee, at the Cape Town Press Club yesterday. In her input she makes a number of assertions, including that the events of the day were a painful moment which demanded action from all of us - a view which we share and are on record having said that what transpired last week in Parliament should never again be seen as the workings of our Parliament. Ms Haffajee however is reported to have also said that South Africa is turning into a police state and that citizens "must rise up". She has further claimed knowledge of some "growing opposition within the ANC against President Zuma". Nothing could be further from the truth. South Africa is a constitutional democracy underpinned by the rule of law. Its citizens rise continuously through regular elections, civil society formations and many other organs of people's power to participate in, shape and have a say in governance. The ANC remains intact and united around its Programme of Action derived from the Freedom Charter to create a better life for all. It is unfortunate that while raising critical issues that the nation needs to address, Ms Haffajee crosses the line and becomes the mouthpiece of opposition by invoking the age old wishful refrain of an ANC at war with itself and fantastic beliefs that it shall soon implode. The African National Congress has a decisive mandate from South Africans to govern. It does not do so at the behest of the opposition and will at no time give space to the opposition's demand to co-govern with the ANC by rendering Parliament chaotic. On the night of SONA 2015, it was the actions of the opposition which trampled on the rights of the majority of South Africans to receive an account from the Executive on the electoral mandate. The right of the opposition to ask questions and act rowdy when they deem fit are neither more important nor more urgent than the rights held by ordinary South Africans for a functional Parliament as one of the institutions that prop up and promote our democratic order. The question Ms Haffajee should help us by asking is what role is the media playing in this unfortunate and tragic circus. It is unfortunate that some in the media choose to overtly side with actions that disrupt Parliament, disrespect and undermine the National Executive and render anarchy supreme, that indeed is a cause for concern and a call for citizens to rise. A broader engagement is required to move South Africa from the current unworkable situation of dogged positions held by all social forces. Constructive dialogue, not alarmist hysteria imagining an imminent demise of the ANC, will take us forward. Each of us must respect and uphold the others right to a fair hearing on all matters; unfiltered by the biased positions on a matter this emotive to us all. Issued by: Zizi Kodwa National Spokesperson African National Congress Enquiries: Keith Khoza, 082 823 9672 Khusela Sangoni, 072 854 5707 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
