/ 28 October 2011

On the march for jobs and new leaders

Apart from a few placards carried by members of the Thembelihle Crisis Committee to protest against evictions, corruption and alleged imprisonment of their members, there was no sign that Julius Malema’s “economic freedom march” had reached impoverished communities outside the ANC Youth League.

The main concerns of those gathered appeared to be employment, protecting Malema from persecution in the ANC and desire for the election of new leadership in Mangaung next year. Sentiment against President Jacob Zuma ran high.

Unemployed former Congress of South African Students member Thapelo Moremogolo from Kimberley said he wanted “to be involved in politics [because] you will become successful. I’m not ­talking about tenders, but about deployment— we’re here defending the ­revolution and will be rewarded”.

Tebogo Maile, from the league’s Hutch Segodi branch in Kimberley, said that the “ANC leadership is corrupt and we’re here to warn them that we will vanish them in Mangaung. We’re here to defend our lineup for Mangaung.” This included Kgalema Motlanthe for the party’s top spot and Fikile Mbalula for secretary general. Maile also said that political activism in the league seemed the only route to “a job and being successful”.

Royal Zita, an executive member of the league’s Rolihlahla branch in Magareng, Northern Cape, said the “march is not against the ANC and its leadership” but about “the youth and asking government what they’re doing about the youth’s future, because education and job opportunities were better before 1994 — how’s that possible?” Zita’s unnamed comrade was more blunt: “This is about succession. If we’re going to change how government thinks about job creation and the economy, we need to think about changing our leaders.”

A Malema supporter from Durban, who asked not to be named for fear of “victimisation from within ANC structures”, said: “Legitimate concerns are being raised here about the economy not including the poor and our government making no impact on job creation. “The sunset clauses negotiated before 1994 mean that the economy and natural resources remain in the hands of a minority. These need urgent attention if we are to close the gap between the rich and the poor; I’m not sure if the president is equipped to do that,” he said.

He added: “The ANC needs more selfless leaders to turn around the party, which is being destroyed by corrupt opportunists, tenderpreneurs and careerists.” But he doubted Mangaung would change anything because “the way the ANC operates now is about [voting delegate] numbers, not about intelligence, capabilities and selflessness”.

Asked if Malema was a selfless leader, he laughed: “Malema is still a young boy; he is still experiencing things. He doesn’t have proper teachers in the ANC to tell him, ‘Look, you can’t boast about living a flashy life while poor people are suffering out there.’ It’s not his fault we don’t have enough moral leaders in the ANC.”