Johannesburg - United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader General Bantu Holomisa on Saturday labelled President Thabo Mbeki the real racist in the country for his continuous use of the race card to justify the recent allegations made against the government on the R66 billion arms deal.

Holomisa, once a trusted ANC loyalist who served in Nelson Mandela's administration as a deputy minister, issued a blistering attack on Mbeki, saying he condemned the president's ridiculous and repetitive use of the race card.

His comments follow a lengthy editorial by Mbeki on the ANC website in which the president slams those who made the allegations which were aimed at undermining the government both locally and internationally.

"At the base of all this lies the racist conviction that Africans, who now govern our country, are naturally prone to corruption, venality and mismanagement."

"It was therefore not very difficult to propagate the lie and insult that the government was, necessarily and obviously, guilty of corruption with regard to the defence acquisition," he said.

He said those who made allegations were given the necessary space to be heard and seen both domestically and internationally.

Holomisa said Mbeki's use of the race card against anyone who did not want to swallow the half-baked arms report was yet another reminder that he did not deserve to lead the country.

"Mbeki labels with monotonous regularity his critics as racists. It is clear that he resorts to insult and invective whenever he cannot defend the indefensible," Holomisa said.

'Mbeki eroding good race relations'

"The UDM is concerned about the systematic and meticulous way in which Mbeki is eroding the good race relations and nation-building achieved under President Mandela.

"His comments are an insult to every South African, irrespective of race. Using the race card creates the distinct impression that Mbeki and his government have painted themselves into a corner and that the report is indeed, as the UDM suggested, nothing less than a cover-up," said Holomisa.

He said his organisation had "come to no other conclusion than this: Mbeki is the racist".

Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo expressed disgust at Holomisa's statements, saying they were unfortunate coming from someone who was expected to understand the historical fight against racism in the country.

Khumalo said Holomisa's statement was indicative of people in the country who pretended that there was never racism in South Africa.

"These lies that are being manufactured have their source in racial stereotyping of people steeped in the past," said Khumalo.

"It is a pity that Holomisa has given credence to the forces that are continously and actively working against the new dispensation."

Holomisa said with each passing day Mbeki "behaves more and more like a neurotic dictator who places greater stock in weapons than medicine, who travels more than he is at home, and who sees plots and enemies wherever he turns. He confuses praise-singing for fact, fact for deceit and criticism for treason".

Mbeki was in a critical mood in his editorial. In an apparent reference to former head of the Special Investigating Unit, former judge Willem Heath, who was excluded from the arms deal probe, Mbeki said: "Judges stood up to assert ... they occupied a unique position as the only public agents with the integrity to expose the real truth about the boundless immorality of our government."

With acknowledgement to Jimmy Seepe and News24.