ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema called for a programme of nationalisation to eliminate poverty during the 99th ANC anniversary celebrations at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane today.
Malema told a packed stadium that included President Jacob Zuma that the only way to free the country from poverty was to implement a programme of nationalisation.
“Nationalisation is the solution to the problems we are facing,” he said.
Malema took aim at big business, especially white business owners.
“We cannot accept the economy being in the control of white males,” he said.
Earlier, President Zuma received a rousing welcome from supporters wearing yellow ANC T-shirts and blowing vuvuzelas.
Bus and taxi loads of people were seen arriving at the stadium amid a high police presence.
As distinguished guests and well-known performers began arriving, they received a rapturous applause.
Zuma’s annual statement is traditionally the start of the political year, where one can expect the president to detail what he expects the party to achieve.
On Friday night at a gala dinner of the Progressive Business Forum, Zuma said the party’s association with working movements and communists was nothing new.
The alliance between the ANC, workers and the SA Communist Party has been the subject of analysis and debate over many years.
Umkhonto we Sizwe veterans marched into the stadium with a yellow, green and black cake to celebrate the party’s anniversary.
Loud music, cheering and the sound of vuvuzelas filled the stadium.
