zimfinalpush
| May 14 2007 at 11:37AM | |
| By Moshoeshoe Monare, Group Deputy Political Editor Former Gauteng premier and businessman Tokyo Sexwale says President Thabo Mbeki should consider other options to avoid the meltdown in Zimbabwe, as quiet diplomacy has failed. Speaking on a BBC World's Hard Talk on Monday morning, Sexwale said the Zimbabwean situation had ramifications for South Africa as a neighbour. "My president started with the process of quiet diplomacy - now there is nothing wrong with that, you don't start by shouting - but its success depends upon whether you are being listen to by the other side. I am beginning to feel that my president is not being listened to." It was time for Mbeki to "turn up the volume", he said. Sexwale, whose name has emerged as a presidential hopeful in the divisive ANC succession, openly expressed interest in succeeding Mbeki at the ruling party's conference in December, saying he would consider if nominated. In order to stay clear of the current divisions between Mbeki and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, he said he would stand for the legacy of Nelson Mandela and not represent factionalism or tribalism. Sexwale said he would not become a compromise candidate but unify the ANC. "I see myself as a committed, disciplined member of the ANC, I don't like divisions, I don't like the break-up of my organisation," he said. On whether he would manage to convince members of Cosatu and the SA Communist Party who had made it clear they did not want business candidates, Sexwale said the ANC's rank and file members would decide. Sexwale, regarded as one of the richest men in the country as a result of clinching BEE deals including the Barclays and Absa bank transaction, dismissed a notion that black economic empowerment was enriching a few elite. "Barclays shareholders and shareholders of Absa would never have allowed the transaction if there was anything wrong with it. There is nothing wrong in people finding themselves making money," he said, adding that he was not running a communist system in his company. |
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