At the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and Mogale City Zonal Task Team (ZTT) council meeting, delegates reported that the acting chair of the Zonal Team cautioned against using mistakes made in the party to turn against the ANC, in reference to the ANC MPs supporting an opposition motion.
“No matter what, we cannot be so angry with the ANC that we walk away from it,” pleaded the chairperson.
As chairperson of Mogale City’s Sanco Zonal Team, I told the delegates at the council meeting that we were shocked to see so many MPs voting against the party line and we were shaken by the outcome.
It was the first time in the history of South Africa’s young democracy that the ANC MPs had voted with the opposition for the removal of the President Jacob Zuma.
This means as many as 26 ANC MPs could have voted “with their conscience” and defied their organisation’s order to reject the motion. I was shaken by the result.
However, I admitted that there were difficulties in the party but I said there is nothing new. Mistakes will always be made. No person can say they have not made mistake. The question is how we deal with these mistakes.
Members of Sanco urged that it would be difficult to identify the culprits because they had voted by secret ballot. History will catch up with them, they will be known one day.
As the chairperson is my duty to defend our members who are MPs counted among those labelled “traitors”, as I also defended ANC MPs who voted against Zuma in the no-confidence motion on August 8 on the grounds that they have been “failed by the political leadership” of the alliance.
The alliance has also failed to act fast enough to remove a discredited leader.
