The South African Cabinet has condemned the unruly behaviour by a section of the crowd who interrupted President Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the weekend re-burial of struggle veteran Moses Mabhida in Pietermaritzburg.
Briefing the media on Thursday after Cabinet’s last fortnightly meeting of the year, government communications head Themba Maseko said the meeting took note of the Pietermaritzburg incident as well as a similar disruption at the commemoration of Satyagraha recently, which was attended by the Prime Minister of India.
”[The] cabinet condemns such behaviour in the strongest possible terms. This unbecoming behaviour is unacceptable and is an embarrassment to all clear-thinking South Africans.
”Although this government will protect everyone’s right to differ with the president or any member of his government, decency and common sense require everyone to do so in a respectful and decent manner,” Maseko said.
The purposeful and premeditated disruption of public gatherings showed contempt for the democratic rights and values for which so many South Africans and their international supporters made great sacrifices.
Such conduct was all the more offensive when staged in the presence of democratically elected heads of state and government.
”No amount of feeling or strong opinion can ever justify it. We trust that those who instigated and participated in this abhorrent behaviour will resist the temptation to behave this way in future.
”We are convinced that such conduct does not in any way represent the views of the people of KwaZulu-Natal and that the majority of South Africans will condemn and discourage such conduct now and in the future,” Maseko said.
When Mbeki took the podium at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday, a section of the crowd started howling and leaving the stadium.
African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma reportedly had to intervene when the noise became too disruptive. Mbeki continued with his speech during the chaos and it soon died down.
ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said on Sunday the people who disrupted the address would be barred from ever attending another ANC meeting if they could be identified, which he hoped could be done.
He said it could well be that it was an organised group.
”Once we know that, we will announce their names publicly and say that they are debarred from ever attending any activity of the ANC,” Motlanthe said. — Sapa