African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema on Saturday again defended his controversial statement that the league would kill for ANC president Jacob Zuma.
”We did not say anything wrong. We might have used strong words … We are prepared to pay the highest price in defence of Zuma and the revolution,” he told hundreds of people, some as young as 11, at a Young Communist League rally at the Claremont Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban.
”When the time comes, we will defend the revolution and we will not be shaken,” he said.
During a Youth Day rally in the Free State on Monday, Malema had vowed that the youth of South Africa would die supporting Zuma, saying the ANCYL had the potential to defeat those who compromised their victory.
Malema again stressed that the league would defend Zuma and not apologise.
”Everything we say, they [previous generations] said it before. If you blame somebody, you must blame a generation before us because we are just continuing a legacy,” he said. ”We were told today that you are irrelevant if you speak a revolutionary language. Ours is victory and victory forever.”
He also said: ”We are here today to defend the legacy of the 1944, 1956 and 1976 revolution … We are inspired by the Nelson Mandela generation, the Peter Mokaba generation and the Oliver Tambo generation.”
Malema said the only government that could provide for the youth of South Africa would be a Zuma-led one. ”We are becoming impatient. We want to build a great future for us … South African youth need quality jobs. We do not want to be cashiers and petrol attendants, and only the Zuma government can provide this.”
Malema’s statement, made in the Free State on Monday, provoked reams of criticism and prompted the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to issue an ultimatum demanding a retraction.
Malema said those in the ANC who oppose Zuma must leave the party. ”They must leave now if they can’t accept Zuma … The ANC is not short of leadership. If you leave, we have others to replace you.”
He called on the SAHRC to defend Zuma’s rights. ”I am calling on the HRC to defend the rights of Zuma. They must write to the Scorpions and tell them to speed up the trial of Zuma, because if anyone has been violated, it’s Zuma.”
Young Communist League secretary general Buti Manamela said that if Zuma did not become president in 2009, ”there will be hell to pay”.
He called for quality jobs and wages for the youth and described the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation targeting policy as nonsense.
”[Reserve Bank Governor] Tito Mboweni, if you can afford bread it does not mean that everyone else can afford it. We want you to relook at this policy.”
On the SAHRC’s ultimatum to Malema, Manamela said: ”We don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
Also present at the rally were the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) Blade Nzimande, provincial SACP secretary Themba Mthembu and Congress of South African Trade Unions president S’dumo Dlamini. Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe left after an hour.
Zuma was supposed to have attended the rally but did not show. — Sapa