EASTERN Cape Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane issued a stinging rebuke to DA leader Helen Zille yesterday over her about-turn on the party’s support for black economic empowerment, saying “revolutionaries” must give an appropriate response to “madam Zille”.
Speaking at an SACP rally to mark the end of Red October in East London, Qoboshiyane also denied that the stand-off between government’s security cluster and public protector Thuli Madonsela meant the knives were out for her.
SACP central committee member Charles Setsubi also railed at the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s Irvin Jim for moving away from the union’s economic mandate into political party terrain.
Qoboshiyane said the disparity between rich and poor continued to grow in the country. He said Zille may have misunderstood the country’s trajectory towards democracy and development in backing away from her party’s support for the empowerment bills currently before parliament.
He said Zille was a stumbling block to building a democratic society where the lives of those at the lowest ebb could be improved by legislation.
“We have seen chaos in other countries where things are stagnating. If we don’t have broad-based economic empowerment policies in the workplaces, we will see anarchy in this place.
“Zille is on record saying she wants to go back to the legislature because we were wrong to vote for empowerment legislation. We can’t be happy when there is a leader in this country who can downgrade the spirit of freedom in this country in such a manner. She is a disappointment who must be attended to by revolutionaries.
“The ANC must guard against those like Zille who want to go back to parliament and regress the progress this country has made. We don’t only build the blacks, we build the white people as well.”
Qoboshiyane also criticised the DA for suggesting that it alone defended the constitution and Chapter 9 institutions like the public protector.
“It is not the sole duty of the opposition to give protection to the public protector. We must support the public protector, all of us, so that she delivers her own work with diligence within the confines of the constitution and laws of the country so the reputation and credibility of that office remains supreme.
“There was no Democratic Alliance at the negotiating table . The ANC placed on record that we must have institutions like the public protector, auditor-general and other institutions that protect the vulnerable and also protect the state against the state.” — rayh@dispatch.co.za
Qoboshiyane lashes out at DA’s Zille
Speaking at an SACP rally to mark the end of Red October in East London, Qoboshiyane also denied that the stand-off between government’s security cluster and public protector Thuli Madonsela meant the knives were out for her.
SACP central committee member Charles Setsubi also railed at the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s Irvin Jim for moving away from the union’s economic mandate into political party terrain.
Qoboshiyane said the disparity between rich and poor continued to grow in the country. He said Zille may have misunderstood the country’s trajectory towards democracy and development in backing away from her party’s support for the empowerment bills currently before parliament.
He said Zille was a stumbling block to building a democratic society where the lives of those at the lowest ebb could be improved by legislation.
“We have seen chaos in other countries where things are stagnating. If we don’t have broad-based economic empowerment policies in the workplaces, we will see anarchy in this place.
“Zille is on record saying she wants to go back to the legislature because we were wrong to vote for empowerment legislation. We can’t be happy when there is a leader in this country who can downgrade the spirit of freedom in this country in such a manner. She is a disappointment who must be attended to by revolutionaries.
“The ANC must guard against those like Zille who want to go back to parliament and regress the progress this country has made. We don’t only build the blacks, we build the white people as well.”
Qoboshiyane also criticised the DA for suggesting that it alone defended the constitution and Chapter 9 institutions like the public protector.
“It is not the sole duty of the opposition to give protection to the public protector. We must support the public protector, all of us, so that she delivers her own work with diligence within the confines of the constitution and laws of the country so the reputation and credibility of that office remains supreme.
“There was no Democratic Alliance at the negotiating table . The ANC placed on record that we must have institutions like the public protector, auditor-general and other institutions that protect the vulnerable and also protect the state against the state.” — rayh@dispatch.co.za
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