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By Citizen Reporter

Journalist


Gigaba calls for an end to ‘ravaging divisions’ within the ANC

He says unity will not be achieved in the party unless the ANC is united and focuses all its energies on uniting the nation behind a common agenda.


Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has called for unity within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), saying leaders in the party were not properly managing internal debates and differences.

Gigaba on Monday evening was the keynote speaker at the Chris Hani memorial lecture in Boksburg, where he said egos needed to be put aside by politicians in favour of accelerated and inclusive growth.

“We should call a halt to the ravaging divisions within the congress that we‚ the leaders of the movement‚ are always happy to take to the public in utter violation of the fundamental principles of the congress and the values it espouses and holds dear.

“We ANC leaders are not properly managing internal debates and differences within the ANC‚” he said.

The memorial lecture coincided with the 24th anniversary of the death of late anti-apartheid activist and SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani, who was assassinated in 1993.

Gigaba said unity would not be achieved within the ruling party unless the ANC was united and focused all its energies on uniting the nation behind a common agenda.

He said the ANC was the glue that held society together, and a divided ANC risked splitting the country apart along “camps based on ideological‚ party‚ racial and class affiliation”.

“Consequently, if we divide and weaken the ANC‚ we accordingly weaken the glue that binds our society together. We run the risk of splitting society into different splinter elements,” he said.

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