ANC president Jacob Zuma has warned he will stamp out corruption and will fire anyone in government who does not have a proper work ethic.

He was addressing hundreds of people who gathered in the sun to hear him speak at a Human Rights Day event in Langa on Saturday. It formed part of the commemoration of the 1960's anti-apartheid pass riots.

When he arrived, uMkhonto weSizwe war veterans, dressed in military fatigues, formed a guard of honour for Zuma.

As they marched him to the stage the crowd ululated and applauded.

Zuma was joined on stage by Western Cape ANC executive members including Premier Lynne Brown, provincial chairperson Mcebisi Skwatsha and SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel arrived later.

Zuma said that after the elections there would be a special performance-monitoring committee.

"The president, ministers, mayors and councillors all need to set an example and show a proper work ethic."

People who did not perform would be fired, because this dragged down the name of the ANC, he said. He also vowed to stamp out corruption.

There was no place in the party "for people who thought they were more important than others".

Human rights was a key issue in South African and its history.

"That is why the ANC, as early as 1923, identified human rights as a fundamental issue in this country. Our rights were taken away. Our political right to govern our country was taken away, our economic rights and dignity were taken away."

Human rights were a fundamental issue in the Freedom Charter, one of the country's most crucial documents.

It was the casualties in Sharpeville in 1960 that made the ANC decide to take up the armed struggle.

"We were tired of not being people but passes. Many died in the struggle."

However, the people had not yet obtained "our full freedom".

"That is why the ANC was campaigning for the five main issues agreed on in Polokwane. These are: the right to education and health, rural development, the fight against crime and sustainable jobs. It is important to vote for the ANC on April 22. Put your vote where it will count. It doesn't work in other small parties."

He said there was also a need to address the issues of human rights across Africa.

When he finished his speech he began to sing Mshini Wam and was enthusiastically joined by the crowd.

Before being whisked away, Zuma was interviewed by former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon who is doing a series of political articles for a business newspaper in the run-up to elections.

Before the event Leon was involved in a bit of banter with his former political opponents. One member told him it was not too late to learn the policies of the ANC.

In Beaufort West, Cope premier candidate for the Western Cape Allan Boesak accused the ruling party of not delivering South Africans out of the social inequity of apartheid.

"The ANC has failed the majority of our people and has become the old regime incarnate. It has abandoned the Freedom Charter, which gathers dust.

"The Freedom Charter was a promissory note to South Africans that one day all the people of our country would live together, work together and prosper together."

He accused the ANC of not providing for human rights such as delivering running water or housing to vulnerable communities while the elite had benefited.

"The ANC's policies of Black Economic Empowerment and affirmative action have done little more than enrich a handful of their hangers on."

Boesak also took a swipe at the DA, accusing it of not prioritising service delivery and employment.

In Atteridgeville near Pretoria, DA leader Helen Zille said the ANC was dishonouring the memory of the heroes of the Sharpeville massacre by failing to implement human rights laws they died for.

"The ANC is dishonouring the memory of the fallen heroes of Sharpeville. They died so that we could all one day claim and exercise our human rights, not so that the ANC could 'kill for Zuma'," Zille said.

"Thirteen years have passed since our new constitution was adopted and 15 years have passed since South Africa became a democracy."

She criticised the ANC for putting the "privileges of pals above rights for all", while many continued to be denied their rights to basic services.

"Everyone has rights on paper, but not everyone has rights in practice. The ANC doesn't care about all the people. It only cares about a few people… it cares more about making sure that Jacob Zuma doesn't go to court than it does about delivering to the people of Atteridgeville.

"What the ANC doesn't realise is that governments can end poverty only when they transform rights on paper into practice."

She added that the government could not do this if all their time was spent "protecting the privileges of one individual and his closed circle of cronies like Schabir Shaik".

Speaking in Mpumalanga, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said South Africans did not trust the ruling party to fight corruption and nepotism. One of the main reasons was the arms deal, he said.

Parliament in 1998 endorsed the need to invest in social security, but despite this, the ruling party had gone ahead and invested in the arms deal instead.

It was not long after that the motive for the ANC's decision to invest in purchasing arms was exposed: to benefit its leaders as well as the party.

"Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki and Tony Yengeni all could not finish their terms of office because of this common deno-minator: the arms deal scandal.

"Can we trust the ANC and its leaders to be good custodians of our constitution? Can we trust them when they say that they will fight corruption when their leaders are dodging their day in court? One thing is certain, they have disgraced the country's image."

The challenge now for South Africa was to make sure that "we do not invest in a one-party system". Holomisa said a UDM government would ensure all those involved in corruption would have their day in court.

• This article was originally published on page 2 of The Cape Argus on March 22, 2009

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