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Mandela accuses ANC of racism and corruption By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg

NELSON MANDELA has accused the African National Congress of being as intolerant and corrupt as South Africa's white leaders during the apartheid years.

In an extraordinary attack on the country's black leaders yesterday, he said the party's reputation had been tarnished by a series of financial scandals and abuses of power. Mr Mandela said: "Little did we suspect that our own people, when they got a chance, would be as corrupt as the apartheid regime. That is one of the things that has really hurt us."

Although Mr Mandela stood down as president and ANC leader in 1999, he is one of the few people able to take a meaningful public stand against the government. With power becoming increasingly centralised under President Thabo Mbeki, who took over from Mr Mandela, he said the ANC must ensure that "the people in power are those who have credibility, who are clean".

Calling for leaders to exercise more tolerance, he told the Mail & Guardian, a liberal Johannesburg weekly newspaper: "We must welcome differences of opinion. They will always be there. One of the most effective weapons in dealing with different opinions is tolerance - the ability to take criticism and not personalise it.

"The proper thing to do is to have free and vigorous debate on every issue and to criticise everybody, including the president, because then, when we have consensus, we can go out and speak with one voice."

Mr Mandela's attack followed his warning last week of growing racism among blacks, who he said were increasingly hostile not only to whites, but to Indians, people of mixed race and other non-blacks.

He said: "Some Africans have made mistakes. They now throw their weight about as a majority. There are some Africans who inspire fear in the minorities." His comments appear to reflect fears that his dream of an "inclusivist" South Africa for all ethnic groups is in jeopardy.

Smuts Ngonyama, the ANC's main spokesman, issued a cautious denial of Mr Mandela's remarks. Mr Ngonyama said: "We always take anything Madiba [Mr Mandela's affectionate nickname] says very seriously because we believe it warrants close attention and gives us the opportunity for introspection. Unfortunately we cannot identify within the movement any obvious traits on a scale that he refers to comparable with the level of apartheid."

The ANC's determination to hold a tight grip on power was illustrated in recent weeks after a party member called for a full audit of a £4 billion arms deal that had been tainted by accusations of corruption. The MP was replaced as leader of the ANC group on the parliamentary public accounts committee by another member regarded as more loyal to the leadership.

The committee, which has never voted on party lines, was paralysed this week when the ANC ordered a vote to distance it from calls for the arms deal to be investigated by a special unit. The vote was passed, but only after the opposition walked out in disgust. Accusations of corruption associated with the deal stretch to senior cabinet members.

The main opposition, the Democratic Alliance, has often levelled corruption allegations at the government, publishing a list of 23 senior ANC members running for office in local elections in December who were accused of malpractice.

But as a former president and ANC leader who served 27 years as a political prisoner, Mr Mandela's comments carry more weight than the opposition's. His remarks reflect growing concern that the ANC has lost its way. In the local elections the ANC vote dipped below 60 per cent for the first time since apartheid ended in 1994.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

Answers

This should not have come as a surprise to Mandela. *Every* single nation in Africa that went from white rule to black rule deteriorated quickly. The abuses of power escalated, including government sponsored attacks on its own people. The racism increased between the blacks and every other race. And, business incomes dropped dramatically since the black run businesses didn't produce the level of incomes that were previously experienced. It is a sad and embarrassing situation that in every case the country suffered worse economic and social abuses under their own rule. Go figure.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001