ANC leadership running scared from debating job creation and corruption
President Zuma and ANC Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, have now declined or cancelled three separate debates with the DA in this election. Ramaphosa and I were scheduled to participate in a live debate at Wits University later today.
But Mr Ramaphosa once again withdrew his participation in this debate, after initially agreeing to it. We were informed that Mr Ramaphosa needs to attend to the situation in South Sudan as President Zuma's special envoy to that country. It seems convenient that he had to be diverted to a matter that is already receiving the attention of the AU Commission and thus miss a much-needed election debate at a crucial time during political campaigning.
It is more likely that this is a fig-leaf to avoid debating the DA. This debate would have been a good opportunity for the ANC Deputy President to defend his party's jobs record. He has a lot to defend. Since Jacob Zuma became president in 2009, there are 1.4 million more unemployed South Africans. In contrast, the DA has a plan to create 6 million real jobs, and we have a track record of actually delivering on job creation plans in government.
This is the not the first debate Mr Ramaphosa and President Zuma have run away from. Earlier this month I was scheduled to debate Mr Ramaphosa in East London, in an election debate hosted by The Daily Dispatch. After initially confirming his participation, the ANC withdrew Mr Ramaphosa at the last moment. At the beginning of this campaign, I challenged President Zuma to a public debate on the key issues in this election - job creation, unemployment, and the rampant corruption in his government. He refused this invitation.
The ANC is running scared in this election. President Zuma and Mr Ramaphosa should stop avoiding accountability and vigorous debate in a democratic election. It's time they took responsibility for their own failure to create jobs in South Africa.
Statement issued by DA leader, Helen Zille, May 1 2014
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
