Zille march a publicity stunt, says ANCWL

Helen Zille. File photo by Dumisani Sibeko.

Helen Zille. File photo by Dumisani Sibeko.

Published Nov 10, 2012

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Johannesburg - The DA is not a viable challenge to the ANC, because it only focuses on criticising the ruling party without coming up with its own solutions, the ANC Women's League said on Saturday.

“Instead of focusing on coming up with solutions to society's problems they simply focus on attacking the ANC,” African National Congress Women's League spokeswoman Troy Martens said in a statement.

“This does however give the ANC some sense of comfort because a party that does not challenge the ANC on an ideological and political level...can never be a viable challenge.”

Martens said the Democratic Alliance was desperate to get publicity.

“A clear example of this would be the march led by (DA leader) Helen Zille in Nkandla to President Jacob Zuma’s home. This was nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt by Zille and an act of utter provocation.”

She said the DA was seeking further publicity when it and other opposition parties in Parliament tabled a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Thursday.

It was another “fruitless publicity stunt to distract the ANC from the mandate given to us by the people of South Africa to govern and serve them”.

“It is also a vote of no confidence in the Farlam Commission of inquiry investigating the Marikana tragedy. It is a vote of no confidence in the Public Protector and a vote of no confidence in the Treasury investigation into expenditure at the president’s home,” said Martens.

The motion was brought on the grounds “that under his leadership the justice system has been politicised and weakened; corruption has spiralled out of control; unemployment continues to increase, the economy is weakening, and, the right of access to quality education has been violated”.

The motion was “mandated” by eight opposition parties, including the African Christian Democratic Party, the Azanian People's Organisation, the Congress of the People, the Democratic Alliance, the Freedom Front Plus, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the United Christian Democratic Party and the United Democratic Movement.

Martens said parties that took part in the motion should be “ashamed” of the way they conducted themselves.

“They have let down their constituency who can no longer take them seriously due to the ridiculous manner they are conducting their political debates.” - Sapa

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