S. Africa at racial crossroads - De Klerk

SOUTH KOREA: South Africa was at the crossroads between moving in a racially divisive direction or a pragmatic, inclusive path under the ruling ANC, former president FW De Klerk said Saturday.

"Are we still at the tipping point? I think we're still at the crossroads," De Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid leader, told a conference organised by his foundation.

"Time will tell which of these tendencies will win out in the end. Time will tell which of these two conflicting approaches will have the victory within the internal debate of the ANC." A policy to narrow still gaping inequalities as part of what the ANC calls its national democratic revolution would result in an "increasingly ideological and racially divisive path", De Klerk said.

But the party has also given the nod to a comprehensive development plan with proposals for addressing the country's challenges.

This De Klerk said offered a "pragmatic, inclusive and rational basis for discussions about our future".

De Klerk said President Jacob Zumaleaned in both directions in a speech last month.

"It opened with repeated and inflammatory references to the depredations of apartheid which appeared to be considerably consciously aimed at stirring up racial grievances and more insistent demands for restitution," he said.

AFP