The DA Youth was “at a loss” on Tuesday after news that former police commissioner Jackie Selebi was expected to speak at the 17th World Youth Festival in Pretoria.
Selebi was scheduled to talk about the “anti-communist, anti-democratic and anti-scientific contents of schoolbooks”.
DA Youth leader Makashul Gana said the event “would be just side-splittingly comical” if millions of rands in public funds weren’t involved.
“Sadly, enormous public funds have already been diverted towards the event, from both the Lottery and the presidency’s budgets. In light of that, we are left, frankly, at a loss.”
The party however found it apt that the National Youth Development Agency had invited “a convicted criminal and national disgrace” to speak at its “totalitarian youth festival”.
NYDA chairman Andile Lungisa defended Selebi's attendance. He said the fact that he was convicted criminal did not mean he didn’t have extensive knowledge about topics to be discussed at the festival. He refused to “entertain” the DA's statement.
Selebi was sentenced to a 15-year jail term for corruption after accepting payments from convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti. He remains free pending an appeal. Sentencing him in the High Court in Johannesburg on August 3, Judge Meyer Joffe called Selebi “an embarrassment” and “a liar” with “low moral fibre”.
Gana questioned how South African politicians could claim to be addressing the problems of the country's citizens when they were spending money on “pointless festivals”.
The agency had initially requested R250 million from the government for the festival, but was only given R63 million. Of that total R40 million came from the National Lotteries Board.
The festival, held under the theme “Let's Defeat Imperialism”, was being hosted in partnership with the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was scheduled to end on December 21. - Sapa