Tshwane - The scourge of corruption, if unimpeded, will spark a public revolt in South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general-secretary David Sipunzi said on Thursday.
“The revolution is under severe attack. Comrades, the scourge of corruption is eating into the core of the ANC [African National Congress]. For example, at times you get a councillor who moves out of a location, into a suburb, as soon as they get elected to represent a community,” Sipunzi told hundreds of delegates at the NUM Youth Structure’s elective conference in Pretoria.
“If this scourge of corruption is not confronted decisively, it will need to a popular revolt similar to the French Revolution. People get tired. People will not care anymore, whether they die. They will say let’s march to that office of [Johannesburg Mayor Herman] Mashaba and remove him. Our leaders must be sensitive to these issues. Ordinary people, without weapons, can overthrow a government.”
Commenting on activities in the South African Parliament, Sipunzi said the vote of no confidence motions repeatedly brought against President Jacob Zuma by opposition parties was ultimately aimed at toppling the ANC.
In an apparent reference to Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, Sipunzi said the opposition was lying about representing the poor.
“Some claim to represent the poor but they bought R4 million house in Sandton, put it down to build a R16 million house. All that these people in Parliament concern themselves with is the removal of Zuma, as if that is service delivery. Zuma is their going in and going out. They ride on him. Zuma is just a scapegoat, they are targeting the ANC,” he said.
Sipunzi however expressed deep concern over the decline of his organisation’s fortunes.
“We are no longer respectable today. Let’s not blame others for the lack of respect. Let’s blame ourselves. Most of the times we are pointing fingers at others. We spend a lot time and energy fighting each other,” he said.
“Maybe for you, when the time comes and you want to contest me, you will find that there is no longer a union. It has been destroyed. We must avoid that at all costs.”
He appealed to the youth brigade to work hard to regain that lost respect and ground.
“Let’s revive this NUM. It was killed by us and it will be revived by us. We believe that our youth can play a vital role in reviving … our long lost dignity. Our faith is in you [the youth],” said Sipunzi.
He however cautioned that while being militant, the youth must guard against hooliganism.
“Militancy doesn’t translate to destruction of property and violence. It is resilience, discipline and unity of purpose. If you are disciplined in anything you do, you have good chances of succeeding,” said Sipunzi.
African News Agency