JOHANNESBURG – Eastern Cape ANC leaders have used former Minister Makhenkesi Stofile’s funeral to slam the party and President Jacob Zuma.
They also supported the call for an early elective congress.
Speakers at the funeral said Stofile raised concerns about the ANC before his death, but his letters went unanswered.
What started off as a funeral service reflecting on the life of the former Sports Minister, soon turned into a rude awakening for the governing party.
Speaker after speaker lamented the demise of the ANC with former foreign affairs Director General, Sipho Pityana placing the blame squarely on Zuma’s shoulders.
“If the president was here, I would have asked, begged, pleaded with him, I would have prayed. I would say to him hand over the reins,” said Pityana.
“Our setbacks are self-inflicted. We have ceded our moral high ground to the opponents. We say we are a party of the constitution and we have a right to say so. But many doubt it because we give them reason to do so. For, no lesser person that the president of our movement and our country takes every opportunity to show nothing but disdain and contempt for our constitution,” he said.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan also attended the funeral, and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa took time to weigh in on the so-called Sars wars saga.
“It should concern us because when a government works well, it should be a government that does not wage war against itself. And I would like, standing here, to pledge my total confidence in the minister of finance, in the way that he has been doing his work,” said Ramaphosa.
Meanwhile, Stofile’s daughters fondly remembered the towering figure in their lives.
The late reverend’s remains were cremated, as per his wish.