Only now they speak up

Mosiuoa Lekota and Kader Asmal both served as Cabinet Ministers, earning fat salaries and enjoying much power, without saying one word in public against the outrages committed by their own ANC Government.

When President Mbeki stated categorically that HIV on its own cannot cause Aids, we heard no public dissent from either gentleman. Both in effect were giving full public support to Mbeki’s disastrous Aids policies that have taken the lives of millions of our people.

When Mbeki was endorsing Robert Mugabe’s crooked elections and giving full tacit support to his reign of terror in Zimbabwe, we heard not one public word of dissent from Asmal and Lekota, not one public word in sympathy for the oppressed of Zimbabwe.

Both men have now lost their Cabinet positions and both are now attacking the new ANC leadership. Asmal has published a declaration in defence of the Constitution (with which I agree). Lekota is accusing the new ANC of threatening the rule of law and making loud but vague noises about starting up a new purified ANC party.

Both are peddling the lie that the ANC in the past was pure, democratic and virtuous but now has gone astray. In fact the sins of the present ANC leadership, including Zuma’s corruption case and Malema’s stupid threats to kill, are minor compared with the sins of the past.

In the 1980s, when apartheid was clearly in retreat and avenues of lawful resistance were opening up all the time, the ANC engaged in the murderous and cowardly “people’s war”, which meant killing helpless civilians, overwhelmingly black. From 1999 the ANC leadership under President Mbeki denied HIV causes Aids and gave full support to Mugabe’s tyranny. The present ANC leaders are angels in comparison.

Worst of all has been the outburst of a man who did speak up on Aids and Zimbabwe, namely Bishop Tutu. Tutu said he would not vote in an election today. He implied it was because of his unhappiness with the present strife in the ANC. Tutu is suggesting the ANC is the only party in South Africa, and that we are living in an effective one-party state.

In fact we should all vote, and for other parties. The DA, unlike the ANC, has a long, honourable and consistent history of supporting liberty and the rule of law, and opposing apartheid and racial discrimination.