INLSA
Watched by ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairman Zweli Mkhize (right), president Jacob Zuma has Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele in stitches at a celebration of the ANCs centenary in Zululand, KZN.
Jacob Zuma had been a disciplined ANC member in his youth during the Struggle against apartheid, while suspended ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema had not lifted a finger and did not understand what the party stood for.
This was the message yesterday as KwaZulu-Natal’s senior ANC leaders used the party’s centenary celebrations in Zululand to defend party president Zuma from attack by Malema, who recently labelled him a dictator.
President Zuma yesterday attended two events in Esikhawini township in Empangeni, officiating at the unveiling of a heroes’ arch, which was built to honour those people who were killed during political violence on the North Coast and also addressing
the centenary celebrations, which were held there.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC chairman and premier Zweli Mkhize spoke strongly against the “undisciplined youth” who were causing problems for the party. Without mentioning Malema by name, Mkhize drew comparisons between Malema and Zuma.
“Zuma understood the need for discipline in his youth. He would raise issues and engage (with others in the party) correctly. This was not because he was a coward, but because he was disciplined and had seen action in the Struggle for liberation.
“Some of the people who are causing us problems today did not even raise their finger during the Struggle because they were not there. It is clear that the ANC has been joined by people who do not understand what the party is all about,” he said, in apparent reference to Malema, who was temporarily suspended by the party’s national disciplinary committee last week for calling Zuma a dictator.
While the ANC has put a lid on the succession debate, Mkhize did indicate who he thought KZN would prefer to lead the party after its elective conference to be held at Mangaung later this year.
Mkhize, who was once fingered in a leaked intelligence report as being among people allegedly plotting to have Zuma removed as president, said KZN was proud of Zuma.
“That is why we elected you as the president of the ANC, and if another opportunity to do so arises, we will not miss it… No matter what critics say, Nxamalala (Zuma’s praise name), we… believe in your leadership,” Mkhize said.
Zuma also received support from Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele, a member of the ANC’s national executive committee.
Ndebele triggered angry reaction from KZN ahead of the 2007 Polokwane conference for suggesting that former president Thabo Mbeki should have a third term as ANC president. Yesterday, however, he led the capacity crowd in singing songs in support of Zuma.
Meanwhile, in his address, Zuma sought to avoid the controversy that has pitted the party’s youth league against the ANC leadership, focusing instead on the characteristics of the ANC which have enabled it to survive for 100 years. He said the ANC had done what it set out to do when it was established: that is, to deliver freedom to the majority of South Africans.
“We celebrate this achievement when we mark the 100 years of the founding of the ANC,” he said.
Also in apparent reference to the charges faced by Malema, Zuma said ANC members were duty-bound not to do things that sought to divide the organisation.
“ANC members have a lot of respect. We even respect our political enemies and we do not hurl insults at them. If you do so, you are besmirching the good name of the ANC and chasing people away from it,” he said.
