In South Africa, the New National Party is calling it quits. The NNP was the successor of the national party, which originated apartheid in 1948. The New National Party was formed after the end of Apartheid and before the 1994 democratic elections.
However, it never had much success. For reaction to the demise of the New National Party, English to Africa reporter Joe De Capua spoke with Zizi Kodwa, spokesperson for the African National Congress Youth League.
He says, “I think it’s a long overdue decision. The (New) National Party should have disbanded and taken such a decision in 1994. It was clear when the new dispensation was ushered that the old has no place and it had had to give back to the new. So the fact that it had survived the two national elections, which her held, I think it was by the luck of God, not because people had faith in its policies and nothing else. So, I think it’s a natural death.”
Mr. Kodwa says the ANC welcomes any members of the NNP who wish to join the ruling party. He says, “The ANC has never defined them as permanent enemies…It is important that we welcome those people into our fold…because it means there’s a change of mind and a change of mind set. And as we move forward in terms of building a new patriotism, a new country, a new vision, it’s important that we win over particularly those who have kept the banner of the previous regime high.”
