Cape Town – The movement #ZumaMustFall was one opposing black leadership and not President Jacob Zuma, the Youth League of the African National Congress said on Wednesday.
“It is not about Zuma, it was never about Zuma,” said ANCYL national secretary general Njabulo Nzuzo.
“These same people called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. When it was Thabo Mbeki, they said he is useless. Zuma comes in, they attack Zuma.”
Read: ANCYL applauds fall of Zuma banner
Nzuzo said that democratically elected black leaders reminded the likes of the #ZumaMustFall movement of the priveleges which were lessening or non-existent.
Speaking from the party’s provincial office in the Cape Town city centre, Nzuzo said that #ZumaMustFall served the sole purpose of undermining democracy and thus needed to be dealt with as such.
He said the ANCYL members who participated in tearing down the “Zuma Must Fall” billboard erected at the Overbeek apartment block in Cape Town on Saturday were defending democracy. The ANCYL therefore supported their actions.
Simultaneously, Nzuzo denounced the alleged violence that took place on Saturday.
According to some media reports, a white man was attacked by a mob after he had allegedly shouted defamatory statements about the president.
As for the Facebook post by ANC member of Parliament Bongani Mkongi regarding the billboard, Nzuzo said the ANCYL would look into the matter and that “if there is an issue, we will deal with it”.
In his Facebook post, Mkongi initially called on friends to join the ANC to “burn down the billboard”. When another user, Jolene Samuels, pointed out that there were people inside the building and burning it down meant they would die, Mkongi responded: “They must burn to death as it is life to them to keep it that way!”
Whilst saying nothing further on Mkongi, Nzuzo said young, white South Africans who felt discriminated against could turn to the ANCYL.
“That’s what makes us different from organisations like the [Economic Freedom Fighters]. White South Africans can come to the Youth League,” he said.
“We are non-racial and we invite everyone to come join the organisation.”
As for the EFF, Nzuzo did not mince his words.
“The EFF should never be taken seriously,” he said, referring to their own calls for Zuma to resign.
Nzuzo said the EFF were sell-outs who wore “workers’ regalia with Louis Vuittons”.
“They are just lumpens of the revolution,” he said.
However, the ANCYL’s main concern currently was not with the EFF but with the #ZumaMustFall movement.
“They still want to maintain white privilege,” said Nzuzo. “That is the character of #ZumaMustFall.”
African News Agency
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