Cape Town - Politics is a dirty business but it could contribute to clean energy, according to Congress of the People MP Nqaba Bhanga.
He suggested in Parliament on Thursday that the enthusiasm shown by members of the African National Congress Youth League in the Western Cape for handling human waste be harnessed in an energy-from-waste project to help the ailing Eskom.
The Youth League members, who launched a “poo attack” on the Western Cape provincial legislature on Monday and repeated the stunt in Khayelitsha the following day during a visit by Premier Helen Zille, had demonstrated “their extraordinary ability to bend their energy on the spilling of human waste”, Bhanga said. He asked whether any ministers present would be “willing to repudiate these despicable acts” and distance themselves from similar “undemocratic barbaric conduct”.
DA MP Masizole Mnqasela said the people of Khayelitsha and the Western Cape were “greatly embarrassed” by the incidents.
While the ANC in the province had spoken out against the protests, “it is not enough to speak”.
“We want, when they say they are criticising something, that their actions should also show that,” he said.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said “whatever the concerns, nothing justifies stooping to such a low level”.
“The UDM has for many years warned the public about the ruling party’s use of the principle of ungovernability and anarchy in areas where it is not in power and this is exactly what is happening now in the Western Cape province,” he said.
The party had also warned the DA to “meaningfully consult” communities affected by its “boardroom decisions”.
He called on the ANC to “rein in its recalcitrant youth that is using innocent people as pawns in their efforts to make the province ungovernable”.
Responding to the MPs’ statements, Higher Education Deputy Minister Mdu Manana said the ANC Youth League in the Dullah Omar region and the ANC in the Western Cape had distanced themselves from the acts.
“Therefore, there will be no need for the ANC to reprimand the Youth League in this regard,” he said.
Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said it was surprising that only Holomisa had mentioned the “degrading conditions under which the people of Khayelitsha have to exist in this so-called capable, very well-off, best-run, so we are told, province”.
“We should talk about the people, the circumstances under which they live are disgraceful.”
While the actions of the Youth League were unacceptable, she said: “What about the people?”
Political Bureau