STATEMENT THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ON COMPARISON TO THE NATIONAL PARTY

19 April 2013

The Democratic Alliance has stooped to its latest lows with the blatant distortion of the African National Congress and its insignia in their desperate campaign for legitimacy and relevance (see M&G report).

The emblem of the African National Congress has always been and remains an important visual expression of the hardship, resilience and triumph of the African people. The ANC logo is a symbol of hope and progressive thinking and occupies a special place in the hearts of the majority of South Africans.

Changing the colours black, which represents the African majority, green which represents the land and gold which represents the mineral wealth of our country, to the colours of the apartheid regime is an insult to not only the organisation but the efforts of the African majority to build social cohesion and reconciliation in this country.

Not only is comparing the African National Congress to the National Party disingenuous, it is also not factual. History can in fact prove that those who today compare us to the National Party, they themselves were part of the South African Defence Force that killed our people.

The African National Congress will respond to these spurious allegations in our engagement with our people. The African National Congress continues to uphold the highest values of a free, transparent and democratic country, which cannot be comparable to the erstwhile apartheid system.

The people of South Africa know the history of this country, its struggles and their leaders. It is quite clear that the Democratic Alliance has run out of ideas with which to appeal to the electorate and in their desperation have morphed into clowns. This latest publicity stunt by them remains exactly that, a publicity stunt with no genuine basis to build a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it as evidenced by this latest attack on our history.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, African National Congress national spokesperson, April 19 2013

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