'Disrespectful' Malema blasted
2008-09-28 21:18
Johannesburg - Senior ANC Cabinet Minister Zola Skweyiya has criticised the "shocking disrespect" shown to Thabo Mbeki in the last year, the Sunday Independent reported.
Skweyiya, singling out ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema's behaviour as unacceptable, described Malema as an "embarrassment" to the ANC.
"People... call me every night complaining 'What are you doing about this child?' " Skweyiya said in an interview with the newspaper.
He criticised the ANC for not acting against those who had tried to humiliate Mbeki.
"We kept quiet... The way Thabo was treated was really shocking to me. Thabo was our president, whether we liked it or not.
"The fact is he was President of this country and he represented the people of South Africa... that needs to be respected if we respect our constitution."
Malema's ridiculing of Mbeki was unacceptable. The Youth League leader was an embarrassment to the party and he had to be brought into line, Skweyiya said.
Skweyiya added that Malema's conduct was un-African.
"We are Africans and an elderly person is an elderly person. We say: you shall not dishonour your parents."
It was sad that Malema had claimed he could fire ANC president Jacob Zuma.
"Who is he? He's not even a member of the National Executive Committee," Skweyiya said of Malema.
- SAPA