CAPE TOWN – Imam Rashied Omar has called on the South African’s to unite against state capture and corruption.

WATCH: We need to get rid of corrupt people within our government: Ramaphosa

In his Eid address at the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town on Monday, Omar urged the Muslim community to participate in social justice activism to root out the rot in government.

“It is palpable that our country’s corruption dilemma is much more than President Zuma, the Guptas and state capture. In fact, it would be naïve to think that we are simply faced with a political crisis of leadership when it’s obvious that the situation goes much deeper.” 

For the first time in 20 years, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House hosting iftar or Eid celebration https://t.co/72QWH5XNXb

— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) June 25, 2017

The imam said civil society needed to be more united in its critique of the state.

“We should be critical of those who have joined the bandwagon for Zuma to resign only because their capitalist self-interests are under threat. In this regard, it is important to call out the selective outrage of many South Africans and liberal activists.”

READ: Leave no stone unturned in state capture probe: Ramaphosa

He said the country’s problems would not be solved by politicians.

“The critical motor of social change does not lie in the support of any political party, politician or candidate president but rather in a robust, independent, well-organised civil society that holds those in power accountable for their political and moral mandates.”

Omar has called for better governance from the new crop of leadership that would emerge by the end of the ANC’s December elective conference

eNCA

JOHANNESBURG – The ANC’s 5th policy conference gets under way on Friday. This is where the governing party reviews its policies ahead of its elective conference.

This weekend Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape held their provincial policy conferences.

They’re all expected to make known their resolutions, ahead of the national conference.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe has warned against expediency, greed and populism replacing principle in the governing party. 

He was addressing the Gauteng region policy conference on Friday.

READ: ANC MPs will follow party line when voting: Mkhize

Provincial leaders, on the other hand, say they want to change perceptions that the ANC’s arrogant, self-serving and embracing corruption and mediocrity. 

“We therefore welcome the announcement by the president to establish a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, as this will go a long way in ensuring that Comrades who are accused of malfeasance are afforded the opportunity to clear their names and we can put this ugly saga behind us,” Paul Mashatile, ANC Gauteng Chairperson said on Friday. 

READ: ANC’s Mantashe admits Gupta emails are authentic

At Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal, the region’s proposing land expropriation without compensation.

Provincial chair Sihle Zikalala says, if needs be, the ANC should consider working with parties like the EFF to give people their land back.

Its stance on free education for the poor also remains the same.

And KZN also wants work experience to be abolished for junior posts in government and the private sector.

“The overwhelming mood in the PGC is that we must do away with land with compensation,” said Mdumiseni Ntuli, ANC KZN spokesperson. “That is a very strong move we must advocate for. Land without compensation. Of course, that is going to make it much easier and efficient for the government to move with a much faster pace to deal with the land question.”

READ: All is not well within the alliance: Ramaphosa

Eastern Cape ANC chair Phumulo Masualle says the governing party should address socio-economic challenges facing the country.

The province is expected to consolidate its policy perspective on Sunday, but it’s not expected to make radical changes.

“The policies of the ANC are very good they only need,” Phumulo Masualle, Chairperson of the Eastern Cape ANC told the media. “We have to look and examine every aspect of life of our communities to examine the policies of the ANC and whether they are still relevant and what impetus needs to be made in order to realise a better future … of course starting with the present”.

The provinces will make public their resolutions on key policies ahead of the national policy conference.

eNCA

PRETORIA – President Jacob Zuma on Sunday congratulated Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila on the relative stability and progress made in the vast central African nation.

“We gather here at a time when your country is going through a political transition following the December 2016 political agreement. This agreement charted a process that should lead to the next elections,” Zuma said in his opening remarks at the 10th session of the South Africa-DRC Bi-national Commission (BNC) in Pretoria.

“We congratulate you, Mr President, on the progress achieved thus far and the manner with which you have handled the process. The people of the DRC need to determine and decide their internal political future. The best way to do so is through negotiations and dialogue. The people of the DRC have proven in the past their ability to dialogue.”

Zuma said given the close and strong collaboration between Kinshasa and Pretoria, the South African authorities were pleased to welcome Kabila on his official visit on Sunday.

“We have used the BNC mechanism to identify critical areas of co-operation. The first decade of our BNC was largely consumed by efforts in assisting the DRC in areas of institutional capacity building,” Zuma said.

This included training the DRC national army, police, and diplomats; providing technical electoral support; and conducting the public service census.

“It is clear to us that we have made substantial progress over the years. The DRC of 2017 is different from that of 2004 when we started our collaboration within the context of the BNC. The DRC is now politically stable and the security situation has improved.

READ: Congolese threaten to upset Kabila’s visit to SA

“Where there are still challenges, the government of the DRC, with the assistance of the region, continent, and international community, is addressing those. In this regard, we encourage you, Mr President, and your government to continue on this path,” he said.

Zuma urged parties in the DRC to commit to dialogue, even when they differed sharply. “We wish to reiterate that dialogue and not conflict is the best way to resolve problems. In this regard we wish to assure you of our continued solidarity and support,” he said.

Kabila’s official visit to South Africa was, however, marked by protests as scores of DRC nationals gathered at the main entrance of the Sefako Makgatho presidential guesthouse denouncing Kabila.

The protesters said the meeting between Zuma and Kabila was a non-event. “Our Constitution dictates that at the end of his second term Kabila must have vacated from power. An election must have happened, but he hasn’t made that election happen. He has no legitimacy to be called a president because we need free and fair elections to elect a leader of the DRC,” a protest leader Jean Bwasa said.

“When somebody is illegitimate and illegal, how do you recognise the deals and the trade bilateral deals that he is signing here? They are irrelevant. They are void and nullified. When we have a new, legitimate government, these deals will not be recognised by the people of Congo. Whatever they are signing today is their private business. It doesn’t concern the DRC,” he said.

READ: Kabila breaks election promise in DRC

“Joseph Kabila is not a legitimate president. He is actually a criminal. Why is South Africa wasting money, rolling for him the red carpet. We won’t allow him to go inside. You will have to arrest us first,” one of the protesters told a police officer manning the main entrance.

As cars drove past into the highly secured venue, the protesters continually shouted via a loudhailer “Kabila you are not welcome here. You are a murderer”. Others chanted “Kabila must fall”, while others shouted “Kabila son of a b***h”.

Several police officers manned the main entrance of the presidential guesthouse, vetting all people driving into the venue. Public order policing vehicles also arrived at the venue.

African News Agency