Johannesburg -
The Gauteng ANC has asked the party's national leadership to investigate the booing of President Jacob Zuma at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg.
“We reiterate our strongest condemnation of the booing, which was despicable and in bad taste. The booing was a disgrace to the legacy of Nelson Mandela,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
“Accordingly, the PEC (provincial executive committee) has asked the national leadership of the ANC to conduct a full investigation into this matter in order to establish the facts.”
It said the act of booing could not be justified or condoned.
“It is even more distasteful that it was directed at our president,” it said.
“Given the nature and stature of the memorial service, which attracted unprecedented international focus on South Africa, the truth must come out to dispel rumours and lies being peddled in the public domain.”
Many people in the crowd booed each time Zuma's image appeared on the big screen at the memorial for Mandela at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Tuesday.
People also interrupted tributes by some foreign heads of state to cheer their favourite politicians.
Programme director African National Congress deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa asked the crowd a number of times to show restraint and be disciplined. - Sapa