ANCYL in more trouble

2008-08-13 21:13

Aubrey Sambo

Nelspruit - ANC Youth League members in Mpumalanga have been accused of forcing the provincial youth leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) off the stage at a public hearing into the disbanding of crime fighting unit, the Scorpions.

Stanley Zondi said they showed him rude hand signs and threatened to kill him at the public hearings in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) on Tuesday.

"When they confronted me, I realised they were serious and that my life was in danger and I had to stop my presentation before I could finish," he said.

He said the youth league members were angry when he mentioned the corruption case against ANC president Jacob Zuma.

"My crime was saying Jacob Zuma is innocent until proven guilty and that as the DA we stand by that. The Constitution of the republic says so," he said.

He said senior members of the legislature also personally confronted him and told him he should have not spoken about Zuma.

The singing culture

He said the public hearings were meant to be part of a democratic process, but were anything but democratic.

"These hearings are supposedly convened to allow us to have our say but were on Tuesday characterised by obnoxious behaviour by the youth league of the ANC," said Zondi.

Provincial spokesperson of the ANCYL, Hamza Ngwenya dismissed Zondi's allegations.

"The party is disciplined and respects the views of other political parties," Ngwenya said.

He said Zondi may have been frightened by the "singing culture" of the youth league, however.

"We usually sing at all gatherings. The fellow might have been intimidated by that active singing and participation," Ngwenya said.

Ngwenya said there would not have been any singing when someone was speaking on stage, however.

- African Eye