The Thabo Mbeki Foundation’s internal discussion document on the land debate‚ in which it accused the ANC of abandoning its historical values of non-racialism‚ must not be misconstrued as an attack on the ANC or its leadership‚ CEO Max Boqwana says.
The 30-page document‚ which was leaked from the foundation‚ questioned the ANC’s approach to the land issue‚ saying it marked a shift from the party’s values expressed throughout its 106-year history.
Boqwana said in a statement sent out on Tuesday evening that the document was an internal discussion document of the foundation‚ which resulted from discussions involving various stakeholders‚ “including the mass democratic movement at home and progressive forces abroad”.
He said as a working document‚ it was not yet intended for public consumption‚ but he emphasised that the document was “a constructive response to the ANC and Parliament’s call to the nation to engage in this important debate‚ doing so in the interest of nation building”.
“The foundation and its patron‚ [former] president Thabo Mbeki‚ has therefore taken a keen interest in this debate‚ informed largely by the historical positions that the ANC has taken over years‚” Boqwana said.