IFP Youth fights for Mangosuthu highway
2011-09-16 22:27
Durban - The IFP Youth Brigade vowed on Friday to make the eThekwini municipality ungovernable if it renamed the Mangosuthu Highway in Umlazi.
"We will use every possible avenue available to us to change this dictatorial decision, and if that means rendering eThekwini ungovernable then so be it," said youth wing chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.
He said his party had noted with concern an announcement by Mayor James Nxumalo that the highway, named after Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, would be renamed.
"The mayor is obviously hell-bent on perpetuating intolerance and provocation. He is at odds with all efforts of reconciliation between the IFP and the African National Congress."
According to the initial proposal, Mangosuthu Highway would be renamed after ANC activist Griffiths Mxenge.
The move by the ANC-led municipality met with fierce opposition from opposition parties.
In 2007, the IFP organised a march calling for the eThekwini municipality to halt its controversial street renaming process. More than 100 streets were renamed as part of the municipality’s attempts at doing away with colonial and apartheid-era names.
Hlengwa said his party would use every possible means to change the mayor’s "dictatorial decision".
"There comes a time when enough is enough. We have long passed that time. We have had it. We declare war on the obliteration of our history," he said.
The mayor could not immediately be reached for comment.
- SAPA
