Johannesburg - The ruling party's detractors will eat humble pie when the general election results are announced, the African National Congress Youth League said on Thursday.
“We continue to await an apology from the habitual pathological liars in the Democratic Alliance, who have been ordered by the court to retract some of their lies,” spokesman Bandile Masuku said in a statement.
The Electoral Court on Tuesday ordered the DA to retract and apologise for an sms it sent to over 1.5 million voters in Gauteng, claiming President Jacob Zuma stole taxpayers' money for the R246 million security upgrades to his Nkandla home.
“We look forward to watching the rest of our detractors, including Mail & Guardian, share the humble pie once the final official results are announced,” he said.
On Friday, the newspaper carried a number of stories on the ruling party in its final edition before the general elections.
According to one of them, which quoted unnamed sources, the ANC government would establish a propaganda ministry after the elections to manage Zuma's bad publicity.
It reported the ANC was strictly controlling arrangements for the party's rally at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Sunday, in an attempt to ensure Zuma was not booed the way he was at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in December.
“Notwithstanding persistent active anti-ANC propaganda from some sections of the press, we appreciate the role the media has played in the coverage of the election campaigns and the continuing coverage of the election results,” Masuku said.
The ANCYL believed media freedom was important for democracy, and that analysts and the media should criticise politicians. The media, however, should similarly welcome criticism from politicians where they believed it was sowing unfounded rumours.
Masuku thanked voters, in particular the youth and those who voted for the ANC.
“We are confident that the young people who voted for the first time voted ANC and will never regret their smart choice.”
Sapa