Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Jacob Zuma
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the decision to publicly call on President Jacob Zuma to resign was one of the most difficult and painful decisions Ahmed Kathrada had to make.
Timeslive is reporting that Ramaphosa expressed this sentiment when delivering a tribute to the former Rivonia Trialist and Nelson Mandela’s fellow Robben Island prisoner in his home town of Schweizer-Reneke in North West.
Ramaphosa is reported to have said Kathrada made the call not out of anger‚ nor of conceit. He told those gathered to remember Kathrada the stalwart made the call out of a sincere concern for the state of the movement and the needs of the country.
“He made the call because‚ as a loyal and disciplined member of the African National Congress‚ he understood that he was a custodian of the values and practices of the movement to which he had dedicated 75 years of his life.
“He was concerned that the values that had sustained the movement for more than a century were under threat. The spirit of sacrifice and selfless struggle was being replaced by the unrelenting pursuit of influence and material reward.
“The camaraderie of prison and exile was fast fading as factional interests set comrade against comrade‚ leader against leader,” said Ramaphosa.
The interests of the people were being subordinated to the interests of a few. He worried about the unity and coherence of the ANC. He worried about the ability of the ANC to continue to unite all South Africans in the struggle for freedom from ignorance, want, and hunger, Ramaphosa said.
“Some, including the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, are bringing together various groupings to establish a broad front against state capture and corruption. The anger of our people is real. The hurt is justified.
“As the African National Congress, we need to have the political maturity to recognise that efforts to establish such a front is a signal of our shortcomings. We need to engage meaningfully with the various forces that feel alienated so that we can re-establish relationships based on principle and a clear value system.
“We will not be able to decisively end state capture, we will not be able to comprehensively root out corruption, unless we are united. It is at a time like this when we should unite and renew our movement rather than abandon it. Our immediate and urgent task is to root out patronage, corruption, mismanagement, factionalism, materialism, and greed.
“To achieve this we must act together with purpose and courage to restore the values of our movement. As we remember the life of Ahmed Kathrada we are called upon to strive with renewed purpose to achieve his vision of a new, and better world,” Ramaphosa said.
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