Newly-formed political party, Building A Cohesive Society in South Africa (BACS), holds no grudges against the ANC and intends to focus on issues affecting ordinary citizens.

“A lot of the opposition parties were formed out of anger or they wanted to retaliate against the ANC. We are not angry and while they continue to do their nonsense in Parliament, the bread and butter issues are forgotten,” interim BACS chairperson Lynda Odendaal said on Thursday.

Odendaal said a lot of focus in Parliament had fallen on President Jacob Zuma, while real issues were forgotten.

“People don’t care about #ZumaMustFall. They are hungry, they are unemployed and their toilets don’t work. Those are the real bread and butter issues.

Odendaal, a former Congress of the People (Cope) MP, said the new party was registered with the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).

They intended to use this year’s local government election to gain the electorate’s confidence.

“Because we are a small party, we have been doing a lot of our groundwork quietly.”

She said BACS was born out of a foundation which started in 2012. A group of politicians and activists formed the party in February.

“I think a lot of South Africans were disillusioned by what’s happening in the country. Post-1994, we all thought we were going in the same direction, but we have realised that we are not.”

She said BACS strongly emphasised women issues.

“There are so many great women leaders in South Africa and the rest of the continent and we believe that by 2019 we should have the first female president.”

She would however not stand to be the next president because she was “too humble”.

Odendaal said, while she did not have figures at hand, the party was growing. They had a presence in six provinces and ordinary South Africans were joining them.

Odendaal is a former businesswoman who left Cope in 2010 to join the ANC. She left that party last year.

“I am not angry with the party. I think they should join us because we can help them with social cohesion,” she said.

The party announced Keith Claude Potgieter as its Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate.

(Source: News24)