'I'm passionate, not angry' – News 24
Verashni Pillay

Johannesburg - The independence of the judiciary, Julius Malema and the threat to smaller parties were some of the items being discussed at a 702 talk radio roundtable discussion on Wednesday with party leaders and former ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota. Debating "the state of the nation" was the DA's Sandra Botha, the ID's Patricia de Lille, Pieter Mulder of the FF+ as well as UDM secretary general Humphrey Nobongza and the ACDP's Reverend Kenneth Meshoe.

ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said the ANC had no problem with the new party proposed by its former chairperson, but noted that it would help if Lekota had "less of a tone of attacking the ANC in your speeches".

Remarks were also made about Lekota's lack of policy and direction, and his prevailing tone of bitterness and anger to which he replied he was "passionate, not angry". He told host Redi Direko not to "jump around like a frog, you must walk like a human being," when she pointed out the planned breakaway convention in December needed more substance on the agenda.

People afraid to talk

"You are walking too slowly," she said back, laughing. Duarte asked him to stick to policy discussion when he said the "bourgeoisie and intellectuals" were being forced out of the party by trade unionists. He said people were afraid to talk because of people like Blade Nzimande.

But Duarte said there was more freedom to talk in the party now that Lekota was gone. "We can even challenge you, Terror, which we were able not to do before."

The two clashed often during the debate, which was continuing after 11:00 on Wednesday with questions from the media. Mulder said "will the real ANC stand up?" - adding that the country would only know after the elections. Lekota repeatedly referenced ANCYL president Julius Malema's "kill for Zuma statement."

In response to criticism of the controversial Malema, Duarte said he had been spoken to by the ANC NEC about "his unfortunate choice of words" and was quiet for five to six weeks after that. "The next time he spoke the media said 'he's back'," she said, accusing the media and opposition of attacking the ANC through Malema.

ANC welcomed participation She said the party did not want to watch their youth with a "big stick". But she promised that the ANC would take action against any of its members who try to disrupt opposition political meetings. Much of the debate was about political tolerance and the opposition parties accused the ANC of not respecting their right to campaign and talk to voters.

While Duarte repeatedly assured opposition parties that the ANC welcomed their participation, most opposition leaders said that this was not the case, citing incidents of intimidation and attacks on their members by ANC members.

Duarte said the party would continue calling for discipline and tolerance from their members, but DA's opposition leader in parliament, Sandra Botha said they should exercise control of their members.

The ANC spokesperson and senior leader responded to Direko's first question about the state of democracy in SA saying that it was "vibrant and stable" and that there had been more democratic practices since Polokwane and "no holy cows exist".

"We must make sure our judiciary is completely independent from any party persuasion," said Duarte. The SABC's bias towards the ruling party came under attack from both the ACDP and the FF+, who say they have not been granted the same platform as the ANC.