Port Elizabeth - UDM president General Bantu Holomisa has launched a scathing attack on President Jacob Zuma, saying the country could no longer afford to be ruled by a “thief”.
Addressing the residents of an informal settlement in ward 18 near KwaZakhele, Port Elizabeth, on Friday morning, Holomisa called on UDM supporters to send a strong message to those in power in next Wednesday's municipal elections.
The electoral system in which the president is elected by the National Assembly, where the ANC is the majority political party, needed to be changed for the 2019 national election and going forward. “You must demand to elect your own president,” said Holomisa.
He lambasted Zuma for spending millions of taxpayers’ money on the controversial upgrades at his sprawling Nkandla home; millions on vehicles for his wives, and on his court battles.
“They removed (former president) Thabo Mbeki for no apparent reason and replaced him with a thief,” said the former deputy minister of environment and tourism in Nelson Mandela’s administration.
Holomisa also used the opportunity to confirm Ntombizodwa “Nolhu” Ngqambuza as the UDM ward candidate.
Ngqambuza asked the residents to vote her in as councillor so she could address the service delivery challenges they encountered.
ANC national chairwoman and National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbete, campaigned for the ruling party in the same area last week.