Members of Solidarity were ”disappointed” by reports of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) to the effect that the ANC will disregard the minority of people who question name changes, Solidarity said on Tuesday.
Solidarity chairperson Ernst Roets said a report in Beeld mentioned the ”important role” of the ANCYL, which was ”to protect the country’s democracy”.
Roets said the test for a good democracy was a country’s ability to protect minorities.
”Such blatant disregard for the minority view clearly shows that the ANC and its Youth League have failed the test for a good democracy,” Roets said.
Beeld reported on Monday that ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula called for the Union Buildings in Pretoria to be renamed after an anti-apartheid activist while addressing supporters in Klerksdorp last weekend.
Mbalula was quoted as saying: ”Names such as this [the Union Buildings] mean absolutely nothing to most South Africans and are a symbol of oppression.”
Roets said millions of rands were wasted on irrelevant name changes while crime was rampant and funds for tertiary institutions were being cut back.
”Solidarity Youth regards name changes like those of Pretoria and Potchefstroom as an infringement of the fundamental cultural rights of the Afrikaner and a blatant attempt o erase the Afrikaner’s positive contribution to South Africa from the history books,” Roets said. — Sapa