Johannesburg - Ignorance lay behind DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko's latest criticism of President Jacob Zuma, the ANC said on Monday.
It rejected her advice to Zuma to retract a remark that it was to the benefit of business to support the African National Congress.
“It is a sad fact that... Mazibuko is so naive when it comes to African traditions that she cannot relate to them,” spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.
“It is our tradition as Africans that if someone gives you something, in return you thank him/her and wish them prosperity and abundance.”
Speaking during the party's birthday dinner in Durban on Friday, Zuma told businesspeople that those who supported the ANC would see their business “multiply”.
Mthembu said the ANC rejected “with contempt” Mazibuko's stance and said that the ruling party was the only party that had policies which supported business and the economy.
“The implication of this reality is that if business wants to 1/8prosper 3/8 in South Africa, they have to support the ANC as their prosperity is dependent on the ANC being at the helm of South Africa's government.”
Earlier, Mazibuko said she would submit parliamentary questions to Zuma so he could explain whether the remarks were in fact government policy.
“These remarks... have the potential to severely compromise the principle of good governance, which our constitutional democracy fundamentally depends on.
“They imply that by backing the ANC, businesses will be provided with financial reward, which can only be leveraged through state resources,” she said.
“This is further evidence of how President Zuma fundamentally confuses the role of the state and party, and how the government continues to misuse public money, which should be spent on the poor,” Mazibuko said.
The R250 million being spent on the upgrade of Zuma's Nkandla residence was the most glaring example to date, she said.
She suggested Zuma spend more time on ways to fight corruption, instead of making dangerous and irresponsible comments that had the potential to undermine the country's constitutional democracy. - Sapa