ANC veterans 'saddened' by working relationship with EFF — Snuki Zikalala

 The ANC Veterans' League wants the party to cut ties with the EFF where the two parties have a working relationship. 

The league’s Snuki Zikalala said they were saddened by the ANC’s co-operation with the EFF to govern certain municipalities, while questioning the red berets’ principles. 

Zikalala leads a national task team that was appointed late last year to plan for the league’s national conference. He is also its former president and a front-runner for another term.

 “We are saddened by that. We've raised with the leadership that getting involved with the EFF takes our dignity, our pride, away and so we said this must be addressed. It doesn’t make us look good as the ANC to go into a coalition with a party that doesn’t believe in the values of the ANC, doesn’t even respect our constitutional democracy and doesn’t believe in the rule of law,” said Zikalala on Thursday. 

He was speaking to journalists a day ahead of the league’s third national conference in Johannesburg this weekend. 

He said the ANC’s “top seven” leadership has promised to meet the veterans’ leadership to address the issue of coalitions.

Zikalala said they were not happy with the manner in which the ANC has handled coalitions. The ANC produced a document on coalitions earlier this year, but Zikalala said this still needs to be debated and that the league will give more input into the document. 

Zikalala was scathing in his description of the EFF, while questioning why the ANC would want to work with such a party. 

“We as the veterans’ league are not happy with unprincipled coalitions. You cannot get into a coalition with a person you do not share values with. We share no values with the EFF, and we know that their primary role is to depose the ANC. We fish from the same pond. 

“We are not in agreement. Though it is a policy of the ANC, this still must be debated thoroughly.” 

He said the ANC doesn’t share traditions with the EFF and “we don’t believe they mean good to society”. 

Zikalala said if the ANC did not get a majority to govern, it should negotiate with the second-best performing party to form a government.

“If for instance in a province, we get 45% of the vote, another large party gets 44%, why can’t we sit and negotiate with that other party, irrespective of which party it is?  [We should] negotiate and discuss with them about how we deliver services to the poor. It’s the service delivery we are concerned about, it’s not a question of what we get out of that portfolio.” 

The league will take a firm stand on coalitions at its conference, vowed Zikalala. 

He said that a policy committee, having considered the many challenges facing the country and the ANC — including the energy crisis and service delivery challenges — will make inputs on the ANC's coalition strategy. 

Zikalala said the ANC lost the past local government elections because it had failed to deliver services. It will have to work hard to regain votes, he said. 

About 500 delegates will attend the three-day conference starting on Friday.

The veterans’ league members are individuals over 60 who have been ANC members for at least 40 years.