President Thabo Mbeki has been called on to defy the ANC - by retaining the Scorpions and repudiating the party's National Democratic Revolution (NDR).

DA leader Hellen Zille said yesterday that Mbeki's State-of-the-Nation address would be an opportunity for him to face reality head-on.

"Like FW de Klerk's 1990 address that set South Africa on the path to democracy, Mbeki must on Friday give the bravest . speech of his life. Like De Klerk, he must admit that his party and his government got it wrong. Unlike De Klerk, it is now too late for Mbeki to take the ANC with him."

Speaking to journalists in Johannesburg, Zille said Mbeki has his last opportunity as state president to make a speech that would save his legacy.

Zille said the NDR doctrine had . resulted in most of the crises the country currently faced.

She cited the electricity crisis, the arms deal, the "manipulation of the justice system" and threats to the media and the judiciary. - Eric Naki