Durban - Premier Senzo Mchunu and the KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League have waded into the fray over Julius Malema’s controversial remarks about Nelson Mandela.
The EFF leader caused a stir during his visit to the UK last week when he was quoted as saying Mandela had compromised the principles of the revolution.
This sparked an angry response from Mandela’s family, with grandson Mandla accusing Malema of disrespecting Mandela’s legacy.
Speaking at the international thanksgiving day organised by the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ in Durban on Sunday, Mchunu said assertions that Mandela sold out the struggle “needed prayer”.
“In our country we do understand that the first democratic president, Nelson Mandela, was not an angel.
“But if there are some people making statements in other countries and telling the world that Mandela sold out the struggle, that shows there are still differences in the country.
“It is a matter that needs a prayer,” Mchunu said.
He was speaking at the event which was expected to have been addressed by President Jacob Zuma.
In a statement, also on Sunday, the KZN ANC Youth League took swipe at Malema’s statements that Mandela deviated from the Freedom Charter when he divorced Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and went to live in a house donated by whites in Johannesburg.
“This logic is as warped as anything else that Malema says, but the principle of taking his dirty laundry to a foreign country and a foreign audience has now made his ranting all the more unacceptable.
“There is a red line no one should cross, and that line is Madiba’s legacy,” ANCYL provincial secretary, Thanduxolo Sabelo, said.
Sabelo said while the league respected freedom of speech, there were limits to what should be considered acceptable political discourse, even if it took place overseas.
He said Malema cared only about self-promotion through outrageous media headlines.
“This is in sharp contrast to the ANC, whose policies seek to deliver a better life for all South Africans. This proves that Malema is nothing more than a saccharine revolutionary who will do anything to promote his political adventurism, even if it means to sully the legacy of one of the greatest statesmen to have walked this earth,” Sabelo said.
He also said the league would continue to protect Madiba’s legacy of a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, as envisaged in the Freedom Charter.
Meanwhile, there was no repeat at Sunday’s church event of Thursday’s controversy over the seating in the legislature of Mchunu and ANC chairman Sihle Zikalala.
The two were each provided an opportunity to address the thousands of congregants at the Moses Mabhida stadium.
However, the pair were separated, with about five chairs between them, Mchunu being next to the church’s chief apostle, Caesar Nongqunga.
During his address, Zikalala had mentioned social ills that faced the province, and the killing of police, while Mchunu asked for peace and harmony, not only in the province, but in the country and the world, among other things.
In an apparent show of goodwill, Mchunu shook hands with and hugged Zikalala when he finished his address, before doing the same to other leaders before resuming his seat.
Daily News
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