Sisulu: We can rescue the ANC
Human Settlements Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu says it is not too late for the African National Congress (ANC) to self-correct.
She was the key note speaker at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation's annual banquet on Sunday evening.
Sisulu says ANC members have a duty to rescue the organisation in honour of Kathrada.
"All of us here owe it to him to put things right. We must put things right for him. It is the least we can do in our atonement. We have no choice," said Sisulu.
She reflected on the open letter Kathrada wrote to President Jacob Zuma asking him to resign.
"By the time he died, he was very disappointed with us. He was a very heavy hearted man, what a sad indictment on all of us. Thereafter he was vilified for speaking truth to power, he was attacked and undermined by people who were not even born when he waged the struggle and gave his life to us. He was dismissed as not knowing what he was talking about," says Sisulu.
She says the ANC of today is not the same ANC of Kathrada's time.
"During the time of comrade Kathrada, the outcomes of congresses and conferences were determined by members of the ANC. But today, they are determined by the courts. During the time of comrade Kathrada, comrades joined the liberation movement to serve. But now in our time, people have joined to be served and accumulate at our expense as a country. During the time of comrade Kathrada, comrades protected each other against the enemy of the revolution, but during our time we have become our own worst enemies," says Sisulu.
She says ANC members today, kill for positions in council and kill when allegations of corruption are brought before them.
"The loss of the young promising life of Sindiso Magaqa who died because he dared to challenge corruption is one such tragic example amongst many," says Sisulu.
Sisulu says the ANC is the only organisation that can take South Africa forward.