Dlamini-Zuma on secret ballots‚ opposition politics and school pupils taught to hate the ANC

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has taken a swipe at the Democratic Alliance for trying to run South Africa through the streets and the courts.

Dlamini-Zuma was speaking at the ANC cadres assembly in the Free State where party leaders discussed current affairs with the electorate on Thursday.

In a wide ranging address‚ she touched on challenges facing the ruling party‚ the economy‚ recent mass protests against President Jacob Zuma and calls for a secret ballot to remove him.

She acknowledged that the ANC was “weak at this point in time”.

She cautioned against this‚ saying the laws of nature dictated that when there was a vacuum‚ it would be filled.

• #ZumaMustFall campaign to hold National Day of ActionOpposition parties are planning to step up their campaign to have President Jacob Zuma removed from office with a National Day of Action on Wednesday.

“It is also our weakness‚ to some extent‚ that we see people now occupying the streets but we must make sure that we come together and unite‚” she said.

“We’re not going to have presidents that are elected through the streets when we have a Constitution that says how we should elect‚ how democracy should be.”

Turning to opposition politics‚ she said: “The DA cannot want to run this country through the streets or through the courts. They cannot and they should not.

• Dlamini-Zuma says her 'not part of this rubbish' anti-Zuma march tweet was fakeFormer African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s Twitter feed raised eyebrows after a post dismissed Friday’s anti-Zuma marches as “this rubbish”.

“But if we are divided and weak‚ they will‚ as we can see they have started.”

Turning to calls for a secret ballot to be allowed in an upcoming vote of no confidence in the President‚ she said a secret ballot would be an insult to ANC members in parliament.

“I would find that as an insult because as a public representative you are there to represent the electorate and you are there as an ANC MP to represent the ANC. Why do you want to hide from the ANC what you are doing in parliament‚” she asked.

“There must be something wrong there and I’m glad that the ANC has not agreed to that because even if you want to vote whichever way‚ you must do it with integrity and honesty and be able to defend your position.

• Did Dlamini-Zuma dismiss countrywide anti-Zuma marches as 'this rubbish'?Former African Union chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s Twitter feed raised eyebrows after a post appeared dismissing Friday’s anti-Zuma marches as “this rubbish”.

“Why do you want to do things and hide and not be known. It’s strange.”

She told party members that she was shocked‚ after speaking to the youth‚ at what pupils were being taught at some schools.

“They are actually taught against the ANC …. It’s not surprising that kids will think ANC is corrupt‚ ANC is useless … because this is what they are fed at school and I think that must also be transformed.”

She said some universities‚ such as Wits‚ refused to allow their students call the country a “democracy”.