LISTEN | Let's get criminals out of the ANC: Mbeki has not buried the hatchet
Former president still wants his concerns addressed
Image: Thapelo Morebudi
Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki says he has not put aside his grievances with the party, which “will have to get the criminals out”.
Listen to Mbeki:
Campaigning for the party in Soweto on Thursday, Mbeki acknowledged problems within the ANC and said the party would attend to them. Mbeki told journalists that the ANC must be transformed and has the potential to fix unemployment, poverty and crime.
He asked residents in Soweto to vote for the party next month, saying he knows people have complaints about the party but promising those would be dealt with and the ANC would do the right thing.
He has not minced his words on criticising the party. In 2022 he warned of an “Arab spring” if the country’s issues were not attended to.
For years the governing party has pledged to renew itself and root out problems such as corruption. Mbeki has been a critic of the party’s failure to renew itself, saying last year that he could not campaign for “an ANC led by criminals” as he spoke at Unisa where he is chancellor. At the time, Mbeki said he couldn’t convince people to vote for the party because of its failure to renew itself. Last year at Unisa he challenged the youth to question the ruling party before casting their votes: “Ask the ANC: given what has happened over all these years, what justifies that I vote for you?”
This was his first active participation in an election campaign since he was president. He said he will be seen more on the campaign trail.