Johannesburg - They looked a bit young and out of place in their ill-fitting camouflage uniform to be considered military veterans.
They had descended on the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters to “defend the revolutionary house from the hooligans” who were calling for President Jacob Zuma’s head and the entire national executive committee to resign.
The Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) dismissed allegations that the vets who formed a human chain around Luthuli House during the #OccupyLuthuliHouse campaign in Joburg on Monday were a rented crowd.
The MK vets, who were vocal in their support for Zuma and the ANC leadership, jeered, taunted and threatened the dissenting group with violence. The police had to intervene to avert what could have been a bloodbath.
It didn’t take long before people took to Twitter to share their opinions about the “military veterans”.
Among them was @CaiphusK_11: “The drunkards misappropriated a proud liberation army, claiming to be veterans. They used the name of MK to grope female journalists. Sies!”
@RealLesBongani said: “You have to admit though, dem young MK Veteranswere kinda hilarious”, while @Odwa_Obose said: “Most of these MK veterans seem to be drinking from the fountain of youth.”
@SbuTshabs said: “Someone should write about the real MK veterans. Not Kebby and his ilk, but those who are living in squalor watching this madness unfold.”
@AdvDali_Mpofu said: “If * were born after June 1976 * cannot be an MK veteran. Because * were 14 years old or less when we disbanded MK in 1990!”
When contacted for comment on Tuesday, MKMVA national chairman Kebby Maphatsoe said the MK vets on show on Monday were the real deal.
He said the membership, about 20 000 nationally, was made up of recruits from the various structures, among them the Luthuli, June 16, Moncada, Madinoga, Young Lions and Barney Molokoane detachments.
Maphatsoe said those who were in the Luthuli detachment were in their 80s, June 16 in their 50s and above, Madinoga and Moncada in their 60s, and those who were part of the Young Lions and Barney Molokoane detachments were aged between 29 and early 40s.
He said of the latter group: “You see, during that time we recruited lots of young people into the MK ranks because we were preparing for the integration of MK into the new SANDF soon after achieving freedom.”
Maphatsoe, whose role in the Struggle has been ridiculed for having largely served as a cook and for deserting an ANC military camp in Uganda, has argued that his intentions for leaving the camp were good as conditions were unbearable and he had planned to report them to senior party leaders.
He said most of the vets at Luthuli House on Monday had come from the Young Lions and Barney Molokoane detachments.
@luyolomkentane
The Star