South African President Jacob Zuma on Saturday said that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) needs to get back to its core values and fight corruption in its own ranks.
“We are here to serve the people; the people are not here to serve us,” Zuma said.
He heads the ANC as it moves into its 21st year in power.
Photo: AFP
“Let us rededicate ourselves to the core values of the ANC, which include discipline, selflessness and constructive criticism,” he added during celebrations to mark the movement’s 103rd birthday.
His party has been buffeted by attacks from extremist movements on the left spurred by millions of disillusioned South Africans — left behind in the nation’s post-apartheid era — who accuse their leaders of bad governance.
Zuma said his party needs to do a better job of managing the nation and battling corruption, starting at the local level.
“Every single cadre of our movement must know that his or her responsibility is to make local government function better by getting the basics right,” Zuma said. “The ANC must continue to lead in ending corruption in the state, the private sector and among our own members.”
The scandal-prone Zuma has been accused of spending US$23 million in state cash on a lavish refurbishment of his private residence, though the so-called “Teflon president” — as in, “nothing sticks” — has weathered other storms before.
Zuma, who was sworn in for second term in May last year, also repeated his commitment to accelerate a reform of racist apartheid-era land policies.
A 1913 law gave non-white residents access to just 10 percent of the nation’s farmland, which was subsequently revised upward to 13 percent. The rule put in place a system that still sees a majority of the best land owned by white South Africans.
A law that would redistribute fields more equitably is to be voted on this year, Zuma said, repeating that there will be no appropriation of land without compensation.
Outspoken political leader and former Zuma ally Julius Malema, whose radical movement won more than 6 percent of the vote in elections in May, has continually called for evicting white farmers.
“We must continuously guard against the manipulation of our democratic processes by those among us who wish to use the ANC for personal gain and self-aggrandizement,” Zuma said.
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