Durban - Not everyone was impressed by Jacob Zuma’s visit to Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.
His visit to the township of Imbali, as part of the presidential imbizo, made no difference to the lives of a group of young, unemployed men.
The group of 10 men sat at the roadside, watching Zuma being greeted and celebrated by their neighbours and community members as he visited two homes in the area.
“What difference does his visit make to us? We are still hungry. We still don’t have jobs. We have celebrated 20 years of democracy and still we have no development, just struggle,” 20-year-old Sbonelo Jali said.
Andile Ngcobo, 28, told the Daily News that he had been unemployed since he matriculated in 2008.
“We struggle to support our families. We are forced to get temporary jobs for which we get paid R50 and R100 a day. This is not enough to sustain us. We are being neglected,” he said.
Ngcobo said that when he heard of the millions spent on Zuma’s Nkandla home, it “drives him crazy”.
“This is money that could be used to develop our rural communities and help people like me further our education so that we can get good jobs to support ourselves and our families,” a seething Ngcobo said.
“Unemployment leads to crime and poverty. The people in the top positions do nothing but line their corrupt pockets.”
He said he and his friends supported the ANC because their grandparents and parents had done so before them.
“We were born into families that believed in the ANC… but this is not the way it should be. I am thinking of changing my allegiance now, because I mean nothing to the ANC. My struggle means nothing to them,” he said.
Ngcobo added that he believed that a form of apartheid still existed, with a clear line being drawn between the rich and the poor.
“Zuma coming here on one day and handing out a food parcel is not helping anybody.
“When he goes back to Nkandla and all his money, we are still here… starving with nobody to help us. The ANC promised us change, but we have seen nothing.”
Daily News