Ido Lekota

Ido Lekota

The DA yesterday added its voice to calls for President Thabo Mbeki to step down.

"The ANC and its allies might be undecided on whether Mbeki should step down, but for the DA the correct course of action is obvious," DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement. "Mbeki must go and he must go now."

Her call comes amid reports that both the SACP and Cosatu have called on Mbeki to step down, accusing him of mishandling the current energy problems, the Zimbabwe crisis and the SABC saga.

A motion presented at the three-day alliance summit calling for Mbeki's removal did not pass.

It is reported that supporting the call was businessman and ANC national executive member Tokyo Sexwale.

Sexwale was expressing concern about an unworkable transition in which Mbeki remained the country's president even after losing the party's leadership to Jacob Zuma in Polokwane.

Yesterday Zille said Mbeki had interfered in key institutions that should be independent from the ruling party, such as the SABC and the National Prosecuting Authority, for his own political purposes.

"He is ultimately responsible for the power crisis that threatens to bring our economy to its knees; he has consistently denied the gravity of national crises such as HIV-Aids and crime; and he has allowed President Robert Mugabe to repeatedly steal elections in Zimbabwe."

Zille called for the immediate dissolution of Parliament and the holding of new elections.