ANC STATEMENT ON ALLEGED COMMENTS BY RONALD LAMOLA AT UNISA
The African National Congress finds it totally disrespectful and distasteful that senior leaders of the ANCYL would falsely attack the President of the ANC with ease. This was evident in the lecture delivered by Lamola on Thursday at Unisa where amongst others, he is alleged to have accused President Zuma of prioritizing his own village (Nkandla) for development at the expense of South Africa's development, an accusation that everybody who is South African knows it is not true.
In his haste to vilify and denigrate President Zuma, Lamola conveniently forgets that the ANC in Polokwane adopted a policy on rural development and land reform. In pursuit of this policy, the ANC led government established a Rural and Land Reform Ministry and Department in 2009. It is this department that has, since 2009, championed and crafted national plans for rural development in South Africa and identified areas that are deserving of such plans and attention.
Those rural areas that have been identified in the first phase include amongst others; Myexe in Limpopo, Jane Furse in Limpopo, May Flower in Mpumalanga, Msinga and Nkandla in the KZN, Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape, development between Mbashe and Mvezo in the Eastern Cape and Mkhondo in Mpumalanga amongst other. This is an attestation of the first phase of a national rural development plan by the ANC government. It is therefore not only disingenuous for Lamola to accuse the President of prioritizing Nkandla for development but also an insult in the extreme.
For Lamola to even have the nerve of saying there is no national plan for rural development but only a plan for Nkandla clearly illustrate that there is malicious intent on his part. It is very unfortunate that this malicious intent comes from a leading member of the ANC and the ANCYL. We would like to advise and caution the leadership of the ANCYL to guard against slipping into trenches of those that are hostile and oppositional to the ANC by attacking its leadership with impunity.
Lastly, we would like to remind Lamola that it is the intension of the ANC rural development policy to create cities in all our rural areas including Qunu, Dutywa, Nkandla, Jane Furse and all other areas that are still lacking basic services and infrastructure. We further advise Lamola to refer to the statement of Comrade Minister G E Nkwinti delivered on 15 May 2012 during the policy speech on rural development and land reform, at the National Assembly.
Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, June 22 2012
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