ANCYL march: Barflies and juice fights
2011-10-27 18:22
Johannesburg - Some ANC Youth League supporters were waiting in a bar in Sandton to join in the organisation's "economic freedom" march on Thursday.
Their fellow marchers still had about a few kilometres to walk from central Johannesburg by 16:00, and hit a brief delay when league president Julius Malema had to intervene in a fight over orange juice.
In Sandton, around 20 supporters sang and toyi-toyied along the pavement on West Street, while holding up fabric imprinted with the face of former president Nelson Mandela.
Others held a placard with the words: "We love Juju - our vision". Juju is Malema's nickname.
People wearing ANCYL T-shirts and berets strolled around, while some sat at a bar near the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where marchers wanted to hand over a memorandum.
By 15:30, walkers had reached the Rosebank Zone shopping mall on Oxford Road. Here they were given water and orange juice, which led to scuffles as people pushed and shoved to get to the refreshments. Malema intervened and asked people to stop stealing each others' juice.
Earlier the crowd stopped in Killarney as at least five people suffered from dehydration. After receiving water their spirits revived as they sang and danced their way through Rosebank.
They were led by Malema, who sang and danced for a while before climbing onto a truck. A woman in her 20s in front of the truck carried a placard reading: "Marry me Juju".
Construction workers stopped work to watch the walkers, about 6km from the JSE.
The JSE closes at 17:00, but a woman on the premises told reporters they would wait to receive the memorandum from the ANCYL.
The marchers had set off from Beyers Naude Square at noon, four hours later than planned, apparently due to transport problems.
After handing their document to the JSE, the plan was to walk to Pretoria, about 50km from Johannesburg, where a night vigil was expected to be held.
The group then intended converging on the Union Buildings on Friday.
- SAPA
