Johnathan Paoli
THE FF+, the UDM and the PAC, launched their Manifestos in Gauteng on Saturday – with the FF+’s gathering in Pretoria and General Bantu Holomisa’s party meeting at Gallagher Estate in Midrand while the PAC launched theirs at the Orlando Communal Hall in Soweto.
At his Manifesto launch in Hatfield Arena, Pretoria, FF+ leader, Pieter Groenewald accused the ANC of “creating a new apartheid of the politically connected” through policies like B-BBEE and Affirmative Action.
“It is only the politically connected people who get the benefits of BEE. The ANC created a new apartheid in South Africa, an apartheid of those who are politically connected and we the ordinary citizens and taxpayers of South Africa (are excluded),” Groenewald said.
Groenewald called on South Africans to take action against the ANC and remove the governing party from power in the elections by voting for the opposition multi-party coalition; and said that the path of action was the only choice for the country.
“The first thing that we have to do is make a decision and that decision is that we take action. If we don’t take action, nobody will take action against the vandalism of the South Africa house and the culprits are of course the ANC government,” he said.
Bantu Holomisa vowed to restore the Eastern Cape to its former glory at the UDM Manifesto launch. According to Statistics South Africa, the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 41.9%.
The UDM, which made an impressive debut in the 1999 elections and garnered 3.2% of the votes, now only holds two seats in Parliament, with a strong chance of this being adversely impacted by the upcoming polls.
Holomisa said the state of the Eastern Cape has deteriorated over the years, despite the province being home to some of the country’s celebrated struggle stalwarts.
The UDM leader promised that should his party be elected into power, it will have a zero tolerance policy on corruption.
“The people of the region will be economically empowered, to combat this neo-colonialism of a special kind. Effective procedures and special courts will be established to investigate and prosecute those in the public and private sector involved in corruption,” Holomisa said.
One of South Africa’s oldest liberation movements, the PAC, attempted to reclaim its glory with an election Manifesto launch at one of the oldest townships – the Orlando East Communal Hall, Soweto on Saturday, under the theme of what it terms its Road to an Africanist Socialist Democracy, with the Africanisation of the country’s legal and justice system being at the centre of its vision.
PAC president Mzwanele Nyhontso said that his party remained committed to the decolonisation of the country’s justice system, and called for the country’s legal and judicial system to reflect African culture, morality and values.
Nyhontso said that despite the party facing many challenges, it was now in a more effective position to reclaim its glory in the political landscape of the country.
“From the onset, it is important to state openly that we have traveled on a rough road with twists and turns. With high peaks and low levels. We have zig-zagged the tide and even gone backwards to draw our strength.
“We have learnt from this experience I am talking about. It is important to state that these rough experiences have made us tough. They say in politics, when the going gets tougher … We have paid our school fees,” the PAC president said.
Nyhontso used the opportunity to unveil the party’s 14-point plan whereby the party intends to turn South Africa around through building a functional, dependable and reliable state, and said that he advocated for a unified state that upholds national values, with a state whose function was to provide justice, accountability, security and the safety of its citizens and all its assets.
The PAC leader said the country’s fortunes can only be turned around through a radical and a different constitution and legal system which espouses the values and the culture of being African.
“The constitution of the country must be subjected to continuous improvement in line with the wishes for national liberation. A plebiscite must be conducted by votes where improvements and amendments to the constitution are required,” Nyhontso said.
The Manifesto launch was also attended by ATM leader Vuyo Zungula and other leaders from various formations, including a representative from the Palestinian Authority, Diana Ruhmi, who pledged their messages of support to the liberation movement.
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