Road ahead will be ‘torturous’: Makhosi Khoza

Outspoken politician Makhosi Khoza bid farewell to the “alien and corrupt” ANC in a heart-rending speech at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia‚ Johannesburg‚ on Thursday‚ announcing that she is quitting the movement.

In an emotional speech‚ Khoza thanked her daughters for undertaking to walk this “torturous road ahead” with her and said that her late husband‚ Ntela Sikhosana‚ would have endorsed her decisions.

“As I embark on this very difficult journey‚ and continue to speak truth to power‚ I know the road ahead is going to be torturous. Not just to me‚ but my children‚ Zama and Mlando‚ who have been my shield and strength. Zama‚ Mlando‚ thank you. What I know for sure‚ my children‚ is that now is not the time to retreat. The eyes of the 56% unemployed youth weigh too heavily on me‚“ Khoza said.

In July Khoza revealed that she and her daughters were subjected to death threats.

Khoza said that she became involved in politics in response to her moral duty to the people of South Africa.

“The people of this country are in desperate need of leaders with courage‚ compassion‚ high moral standing and who have their interest at heart. We cannot stand down‚” she said with passion.

She said that she will “no longer tap dance with the deadly‚ greedy hyenas and wolves”‚ but will support the anti-corruption revolution of civil society and faith-based groups.

“I have come to realise that decolonising‚ reconstructing‚ reconfiguring‚ reconciling‚ and growing South Africa cannot be pursued on an amoral and immoral platform.

“I will not be led by leaders who have lost legitimacy and credibility. I will not be led by leaders who are corrupt and tolerant of corruption. I will not. I am asking for men and women of virtue from all racial groups‚ classes‚ faiths‚ genders‚ ages and traditions to join the crusade to rid South Africa and the entire African continent of corruption” she said.

Khoza said that she wants to free herself from the “ugly‚ nasty‚ self-serving‚ factional and unprincipled contestation for positions (taking place ahead of the December elective conference). Whether I like it or not I have reached a conclusion that the ANC has been hijacked by these aliens.”

Khoza‚ who has spoken out against corruption‚ and infuriated the party leadership with her public calls for President Jacob Zuma to resign said that “an injustice by a black man is no different from an injustice by a white man”. Khoza said that she was not alone in the pursuit of a just society within the ANC.

"I want South Africans to know there are many good comrades within the ANC ... who cannot come out in the open for fear of being victimised or persecuted.

"I am not leaving the ANC mission but I am leaving the ANC. We need to draw a distinction between the ANC mission and the leaders that are now running the ANC. Although I am leaving the ANC‚ the values that it taught me‚ I will leave with‚ I will give them life‚" Khoza said.

Khoza said that she refuses to be fired “by unprincipled‚ immoral leaders and will not give them the power to make a mockery of the importance of the rule of law”.

“I am not leaving the ANC. I am only leaving the alien and corrupt ANC. The values of the old ANC‚ Madiba’s ANC‚ still lives within me; and I will give it life again‚ one way or the other; for the sake of those who went before‚ and for the sake of those to come. Goodbye new alien and corrupt ANC‚ I quit‚” she concluded.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said Khoza's resignation is putting the ANC under more pressure.

"It says there is no place for people who speak the truth within the party. There is no space for a voice of reason."

He said Khoza knew the disciplinary action against here would "further" humiliate her‚ hence her decision to resign.

Asked what she is likely to do after her resignation‚ Mathekga said: “She is not going to join any political party. She is likely to join civil society. There are opportunities for her to contribute to what she believes in."

Speaking on a personal level‚ Thami Ntenteni threw his weight behind Khoza.

“I want her to know that I support her wholeheartedly. I can’t find Makhosi Khoza to blame. Many have brought the ANC into disrepute and none of them were disciplined. I subscribe to her views. She did what she did because the leadership and not the ANC have violated the set values and principles she came to understand and believed in‚” Ntenteni said.

The party’s chief whip‚ Jackson Mthembu‚ labelled her speaking out a symptom of "extreme indiscipline".

The ANC's KwaZulu-Natal provincial leadership recently brought disciplinary charges against Khoza after she openly stated that she would back a motion of no confidence aimed at ousting the president.