United Democratic Movement president Bantu Holomisa yesterday blasted the ANC led-government and President Jacob Zuma accusing them of being self-serving thieves who did not care about their constituents.
Holomisa told a group of about 50 people of all ages in Dimbaza yesterday to punish the ANC in the upcoming elections by voting for other political parties. He accused the ANC of failing since 1994 to deliver for the poor.
His visit was aimed at addressing sickly residents who previously worked at the now-closed Dimbaza Foundries. The group turned to the UDM for help in receiving compensation for their damaged health.
The Dimbaza Foundries was closed in 2011 after decades of producing and exporting steel.
Accompanied by his deputy Mncedisi Filtane and Eastern Cape UDM leaders, the former military general told the axed workers that the party would hand the matter over to its legal team in an effort to assist those who contracted tuberculosis and lung cancer as a result of working at the factory, as well as the families of those who died.
He said: “Your attempts to plead with the Eastern Cape premier and ANC’s Oscar Mabuyane will not assist you. That route will not assist you as you have seen. This case was reported to me and it is no different to the cases we have dealt with assisting mineworkers to get compensation.
“We will deal with this matter as we have been doing and engage the ministers of health, labour and trade and industry. Progress has been made in connection with this case; however we need to put legal pressure to make sure that the affected families get what they deserve,” he said.
He was responding to a report tabled to him by former worker Gcinikhaya Nxitywa stating that since the company closed in 2011, at least 38 people had died due to illnesses such as lung cancer and TB linked to working at the factory for years.
Nxitywa said the latest victim was former worker Banana Mangcoba who died on Friday.
Holomisa told the crowd not to vote for the ANC. “You need to punish the ANC and not be loyal to the fact that it was Mandela’s party when you see that things are going downhill. These thieves have long shifted from the original agenda and they are now just looting, proving that the democracy that was fought for by many parties is only benefiting a selected few.
“Our country is being downgraded. Msholozi’s balloon is taking us straight to the bottom and we must not put all our eggs in one basket. Zuma is busy looting from the state; he and his cronies are just looting, we live in an era of self-serving leaders,” Holomisa said.
He added that the UDM was not scared to call out Zuma for being a “thief” and encouraged the residents to join alternative parties as “the ANC has damaged our country”.
Following his address the residents received UDM T-shirts as a symbol of being new UDM members.
Nxitywa said although the now sickly axed workers received salary packages, they were never compensated for their health.
“The last company that we worked with, Scow Metals Group, did medical tests on us and about 90% of the workers were found to be sick. They knew the danger we were exposed to but we were not even given protective working gear. Today people have gone blind, some can’t hear and some can’t even walk,” Nxitywa said.
Another resident Mzukisi Mpondonkqi told Holomisa that Dimbaza’s disadvantaged residents had no one to cry out to.
Holomisa urges audience: punish ‘thieving ANC’
Holomisa told a group of about 50 people of all ages in Dimbaza yesterday to punish the ANC in the upcoming elections by voting for other political parties. He accused the ANC of failing since 1994 to deliver for the poor.
His visit was aimed at addressing sickly residents who previously worked at the now-closed Dimbaza Foundries. The group turned to the UDM for help in receiving compensation for their damaged health.
The Dimbaza Foundries was closed in 2011 after decades of producing and exporting steel.
Accompanied by his deputy Mncedisi Filtane and Eastern Cape UDM leaders, the former military general told the axed workers that the party would hand the matter over to its legal team in an effort to assist those who contracted tuberculosis and lung cancer as a result of working at the factory, as well as the families of those who died.
He said: “Your attempts to plead with the Eastern Cape premier and ANC’s Oscar Mabuyane will not assist you. That route will not assist you as you have seen. This case was reported to me and it is no different to the cases we have dealt with assisting mineworkers to get compensation.
“We will deal with this matter as we have been doing and engage the ministers of health, labour and trade and industry. Progress has been made in connection with this case; however we need to put legal pressure to make sure that the affected families get what they deserve,” he said.
He was responding to a report tabled to him by former worker Gcinikhaya Nxitywa stating that since the company closed in 2011, at least 38 people had died due to illnesses such as lung cancer and TB linked to working at the factory for years.
Nxitywa said the latest victim was former worker Banana Mangcoba who died on Friday.
Holomisa told the crowd not to vote for the ANC. “You need to punish the ANC and not be loyal to the fact that it was Mandela’s party when you see that things are going downhill. These thieves have long shifted from the original agenda and they are now just looting, proving that the democracy that was fought for by many parties is only benefiting a selected few.
“Our country is being downgraded. Msholozi’s balloon is taking us straight to the bottom and we must not put all our eggs in one basket. Zuma is busy looting from the state; he and his cronies are just looting, we live in an era of self-serving leaders,” Holomisa said.
He added that the UDM was not scared to call out Zuma for being a “thief” and encouraged the residents to join alternative parties as “the ANC has damaged our country”.
Following his address the residents received UDM T-shirts as a symbol of being new UDM members.
Nxitywa said although the now sickly axed workers received salary packages, they were never compensated for their health.
“The last company that we worked with, Scow Metals Group, did medical tests on us and about 90% of the workers were found to be sick. They knew the danger we were exposed to but we were not even given protective working gear. Today people have gone blind, some can’t hear and some can’t even walk,” Nxitywa said.
Another resident Mzukisi Mpondonkqi told Holomisa that Dimbaza’s disadvantaged residents had no one to cry out to.
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