'Mbeki would blame even the drought on the ANC'

Former president Thabo Mbeki's brother, Moeletsi Mbeki, would even blame the drought on the ANC, said the party's spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa.

Kodwa was responding to a recent statement by Mbeki during a Daily Dispatch Dialogue in which he said the ANC officials who came to his brother's house to ask him to resign should have been tried for treason.

"He lives in his own world. Obviously he is detached from reality. One of the things we invite him to do is to ask people who know better," Kodwa said.

"He likes giving speeches and he does it without doing research. Because of his desperation to demonise the ANC, he finds every fault including drought; now that it's winter he will [probably] blame the ANC."

Mbeki told News24 that people were dying in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) because the ANC failed to give an explanation for the recent ousting of former premier, Senzo Mchunu.

Removed a premier

He said the Mchunu's axing was an example of the ANC's unilateral decision-making without giving explanations.

"We have to follow the law and the Constitution. We cannot have personal preference. If we don't follow the Constitution, we end up with the situation starting to emerge in KZN...

"The president is not elected by ANC but by parliament. Only parliament can remove the president of the country, otherwise we create the chaos. We can see the precedent. The KZN (ANC) just removed a premier with no explanation given," he said.

Kodwa, however, said the ANC did not owe Mbeki an explanation.

False allegations

"He thinks the struggle is inherited. Just because he is the brother of a member doesn't mean we have an obligation to explain our decisions. His allegations are false," Kodwa maintained.

The Daily Dispatch newspaper reported that during his speech, Mbeki said the ANC had proved it was capable of acting just as the National Party government had acted towards black South Africans.

He said Marikana demonstrated the ANC had capacity to use force, the Daily Dispatch reported.

"The importance of Marikana was that the ANC demonstrated that it could gun down its former supporters and there would be no uprising," Mbeki said.