Irresponsible statements by some ANC leaders cost votes from minority groups, KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala said.
|||Irresponsible statements by some ANC leaders cost votes from minority groups, the party's KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala said on Thursday.
Some leaders had deepened racial divides by suggesting that whites were not part of the revolution, he told reporters in Durban.
“So, some derogatory remarks that come from our own are costly to us.”
Zikalala said the way the media portrayed the African National Congress and the fear instilled by right wing bodies played a part in the party’s failure to attract votes from the province’s minority communities.
“Many people within the white community still have that tendency of white superiority - that if things are done by whites it will be better and if it is African it is bad.”
He said many whites had failed to realise that the ANC was delivering on its promises. It was “unfortunate” that the party was not given credit when it did well and delivered services.
In last year’s election, the party viewed its loss of minority votes as a blow, Zikalala said. The party’s support had grown in the province, but not among the minority groups.
He said the ANC had historically attracted the support of white academics and professionals, but not the white working class.
The party had 440,000 members in the province, or about 35 percent of total membership in the country.
Turning to the party’s planned month-long centenary celebrations in KwaZulu-Natal, he said the cost would be borne by the ANC and not by the government.
The month-long centenary activities would include rallies, carnivals, lectures and the unveiling of tombstones.
Zikalala would not say how much the celebrations would cost.
“Many parties in the world when they celebrate 100 years, that celebration is dedicated, and it becomes the heritage of that country and the government in most cases funds those celebrations.” - Sapa