Moeletsi Mbeki's criticism of Zuma disrespectful and disingenuous: ANC

The ANC has lambasted political analyst and former president Thabo Mbeki's brother Moeletsi Mbeki for comments he made about the party and President Jacob Zuma.

"The ANC strongly condemns as disrespectful and disingenuous the latest barrage of unfair criticism of President Jacob Zuma and the ANC-led government by Moeletsi Mbeki," spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement on Wednesday.

"With his political roots having been nurtured in the ANC, Moeletsi has chosen not only to betray noble principles and beliefs held by his late struggle icon father, Govan Mbeki, but has decided to embark on a role of being the voice of the opposition, instead of making a meaningful contribution within structures of the ANC and government in a quest to build a better country for all South Africans," he said.

Addressing the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday, Mbeki reportedly said Zuma did not have the will or the ability to steer South Africa out of its economic and political difficulties.

Mbeki further said the ANC was not the "future for us".

"The ANC is losing its voters. A few years ago it had 70% of the electorate and today it has 62%.

"Even [ANC Youth League leader Julius] Malema — who finds it hard to do this kind of simple arithmetic — pointed out that Zuma is losing votes for the ANC," he said.

He criticised Zuma for not taking action on the public protector's report on the police's office lease deal.

"Mr Zuma has done nothing about it. He says he is studying it, but all of us know what is in the report..." Mbeki said.

"We have to ask ourselves what is the future of SA. It is not the ANC anymore. Like all liberation parties that have been in government, they are very corrupt and incompetent... which is what you see every day."

South Africa's future was grim under the ANC government because of its refusal to modernise the monetary system, or the labour force, to keep up with the times.

Until recently, the ANC had been headed by the leadership that came out of Fort Hare University in the 1940s. "You do not have that calibre of leadership anymore.

"You get the song-and-dance brigade like Malema and Zuma, who say they are providing leadership," Mbeki reportedly said.

In his statement, Mthembu said: "We find Moeletsi's latest outburst, charging that 'the ANC is not future for South Africa' and that the president was merely about 'song and dance' disingenuous and misinformed in the extreme, displaying characteristics of desperation to rubbish the ANC, its president and government."

To logical and patriotic South Africans, the 64% ANC victory in the recent local government elections, which translated into the ANC governing 71% of all councils, was yet another strong indication, "even to such a doubting Thomas (sic) like Moeletsi", that the ANC remained the future of South Africa and was on the right course in redressing decades of the country's socioeconomic imbalances.

"We lastly would also want to remind Moeletsi and all others who think like him that since the dawn of a democratic South Africa in 1994, the only president of a Republic of South Africa who was 'bold enough' to reshuffle his cabinet and replace a significant number of ministers was none other than President Jacob Zuma," Mthembu said.