JOHANNESBURG Nov 4 (Reuters) – South African police
prevented the country’s main opposition leader from using a
public road leading to President Jacob Zuma’s house in his home
village on Sunday, citing safety concerns.
South African media have reported the government plans to
spend some 250 million rand ($28.61 million) on President Jacob
Zuma’s home village, angering the opposition Democratic Alliance
(DA) which had wanted to deliver letters from school children
who lack textbooks, to illustrate where money should be spent.
Police in riot gear turned back DA leader Helen Zille and a
small group of supporters on their way to inspect Zuma’s
residence in the village of Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal province.
“We will not allow the ANC to declare certain areas “no-go
zones” in our country,” Zille said in a statement after filing a
complaint against Zuma’s ruling African National Congress for
blocking a public road.
The ruling ANC, which has been in power since the end of
white minority rule in 1994, is often accused of corruption by
opposition parties such as the DA, with funds from the national
budget not always reaching the intended millions who continue to
live in poverty 18 years after the advent of democracy.
But Nelson Mandela’s 100 year-old party continues to enjoy
mass support, securing more than 60 percent of the vote in all
four national elections since 1994.
Police said they could not allow Zille to pass on Sunday due
to concerns for her own safety as there were angry ANC members
waiting for her next to Zuma’s home.
Zille’s DA has its origins as the liberal, anti-apartheid
party among whites before 1994, but has started to make inroads
with the electorate, growing to 24 percent of the vote in local
elections in May this year and becoming the main opposition
party.
The DA said it would give Zuma’s administration 72 hours to
release information on the funding of the projects in Nkandla
before going to court. The president’s spokesman responded by
saying Zille was “just looking for publicity.”
($1 = 8.7387 South African rand)
(Reporting by Xola Potelwa; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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