CIVIL rights movement #NotInMyName has cautioned ordinary citizens to vote with their lived experiences in mind during the upcoming general elections.
This comes after ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula admitted in public to defending corruption in Parliament when they said a swimming pool erected at former president Jacob Zuma's homestead is a fire pool.
Mbalula, who was speaking in Mpumalanga, further said people lost careers because of that issue, and that it's difficult to defend lies.
“In defence of our president, we went to Parliament and opened an Ad Hoc Committee and said a swimming pool is a fire pool. People lost careers because of that issue because it's difficult to defend lies. The matter went to the Constitutional Court, where a judgment was made that the then president Mr Jacob Zuma was unfit to hold office,” he said.
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Mbalula further took a swipe at Zuma that he expelled himself from the ANC when he recently endorsed the newly formed uMkhonto Wesizwe political party publicly.
The leader of the movement, Siyabulela Jentile, said Mbalula’s admission to defending corruption in Parliament, lying under oath by extension, is an insult to the Constitution, Parliament and to ordinary South Africans who put their faith, fears and aspirations in the hands of "scheming and lying politicians".
“The SG’s statements make us wonder how many other occasions has the ruling party had to lie 'in defence of their president' both past and present, including the Phala Phala farm gate scandal. As members of the civil society in South Africa, #NotInMyName wishes to call upon ordinary South Africans to register to vote better in the upcoming 2024 elections. For many years we have been told to vote with our consciences, it is time to vote with our lived experiences of no lights, no jobs, and no ethical leaders,” said Jentile.
