Three days to go before the elections – The gloves are finally off


By Oliver Ngwenya    03-May-2014 08:07 UTC+02:00 1
Everybody has something to say. It's allowed in politics! Photo: Za News.

Everybody has something to say. It’s allowed in politics! Photo: Za News.

 

As we approach the election on Wednesday, it appears that the gloves are slowly coming off, and instead of intensifying the campaign of convincing the electorate, most parties are focusing on trying to point out each other’s clay feet.

The Young Communists Party leader, Buti Manamela had harsh words to say about the stance of the Democratic Alliance on the work of the Nkandla Committee. Max Sisulu, the speaker of parliament, set up the committee to come up with Zuma’s response to the allegation contained in the Public Protector’s report that he, and his family had unfairly benefitted from the upgrades to his Nkandla home in KwaZulu Natal. The ANC representatives in the committee have proposed and carried forward a motion that the matter be moved forward to the fifth parliament because they are in the majority.

The DA has not found this funny and have accused ANC of delaying the process to protect President Zuma. It is in this light that Manamela, who is part of the ANC delegation, has accused the DA of politicizing the whole work of the Committee. He further took a swipe at the other political parties, accusing them of not having manifestos, which explains why all they talk about is Nkandla. He accused the parties of merely representing the interst of their leaders.

Pieter Groenwald, the leader of the Freedom Front Plus, was frothing at the mouth when he accused the Democratic Alliance of unfair and unethical practices. The FF+ wrote to the Independant Electoral Commission advising them that the DA was sending mass smses to the electorate informing them that the FF+ was too small to matter and that a vote for the party was the same as a vote for the ruling party. The party requested relief, retraction of the offending media as well as an apology.

Meanwhile, the ANC in KwaZulu Natal is mourning the death of its member and its volunteers in the province, Wiseman Ngubane, who was shot dead on Thursday night when he was getting out of his car after giving a lift to friends. No arrests have yet been made and police insist they are still investigating.

The Inkatha Freedom Party are stark raving mad! They feel the Independant Electoral Commission is not taking them seriously and will be taking the matter to court even after the elections. The bone of contention is the use of SADTU members as election officers. The IFP contends that these members are active members of the ruling party and cannot be expected to be impartial. This was revealed by the party’s legal advisor, Lourens de Klerk.



  Comments


Leave a comment