'Feasting on fruits of office tripped ANC'

21 August 2016 - 02:00 By NATHI OLIFANT

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe has told ANC supporters they have nothing to worry about if the party loses because this does not mean the country will plunge back into turmoil.Motlanthe - who also served as ANC deputy president until December 2012, when he challenged President Jacob Zuma for the party's leadership - endorsed the outcomes of the local government elections as reflective of "a population which is beginning to embrace a variety of ideas".His remarks, made in Durban on Friday, came as ANC supporters were still licking their wounds after an election in which the party lostcontrol of metros in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.story_article_left1Some ANC diehards have characterised the losses as a setback for "transformation", saying DA-led councils may "reverse the gains of democracy".But Motlanthe said the country's institutions were strong enough to ensure political stability."We should not be worried by the ANC losing power. We should not worry because there are strong democratic institutions in place."It [the country] will not end up in a situation of instability, for we have built these strong institutions of democracy," Motlanthe said.He also suggested that the ANC's decline was bound to happen.For the ANC, he said, the results showed that "we cannot leave the attainment of freedom in its fullest expression to the future while we feast on the fruits of incumbency... People cannot be addressed with slogans and jargon, but require action and a realisation of a future promised so many years ago."..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.