Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has challenged President Thabo Mbeki to a series of television debates, saying South Africa needs a real, live debate to restore dignity and honesty to political discourse in the country.
Writing in his weekly newsletter on Friday, Leon said if voters were to have a real choice in the April 14 elections, they should see the leaders of the African National Congress and the DA challenging each other on the key issues that mattered most to the people.
Mbeki avoided real debate, set up "straw men" and "misquoted the opposition", Leon said.
"We need a live, public debate so that there is no misquoting, and no evading the issues South Africans care about most," he said.
"We also need a debate so that the president can be restrained from making outrageous, false, and inflammatory accusations, as he does in his most recent letter in ANC Today.
"He says that because the DA, the IFP and the ACDP support a free-market system, we want the democratic state to stop providing such basic goods and services to the people as water, electricity, transport, telephones and so on.
"That is simply a lie."
Leon said in municipal areas under its control, the DA had improved living conditions in some of the poorest areas of the country by introducing policies such as, six kilolitres of free water per month for every household, 20 kilowatt-hours per month of free electricity for every council-served household, cash grants of R20 per month to indigent households to help them pay for services, and exemption from all refuse, sewerage and rates charges for every owner of a house valued at less than R50 000.
"We introduced these policies when we controlled Cape Town, and later extended them to 18 other municipalities.
"In light of these facts, the president's claims are shown to be false. So, too, are his claims about our position on a variety of other issues, from minimum wages to employment equity.
"The ANC must be running out of ideas, because that has become the ruling party's stock response to any serious policy alternative proposed by the DA, or by anyone else. If you disagree with the government, you must therefore support a return to apartheid.
"We need a real, live debate to restore dignity and honesty to political discourse in South Africa.
"I therefore challenge President Thabo Mbeki to a series of debates about the real issues that matter most to the people of our country. We want a real, live debate on jobs, poverty, crime, HIV/Aids, corruption and Zimbabwe."
The DA had already written to the SABC, requesting that the broadcaster organise a series of televised debates between the leaders of the major political parties in South Africa, Leon said. - Sapa