Youth of Limpopo fed-up: #ZumaMustFall

T he rise of a group of disgruntled African National Congress Youth League (Ancyl) members in Limpopo intending to join Monday’s planned march unto Luthuli House demanding the fall of President Jacob Zuma, is regarded added fuel to the flames of discontent sounding out from within his own formations across the country.
At the time of going to press an individual involved in mobilising Ancyl members in Limpopo told Polokwane Observer that scores of progressive young people aligned to the ruling party in the province were expected to join Monday’s action, which would focus on Zuma and Luthuli House in particular. He indicated that they intended to first greet the provincial party leadership at Frans Mohlala House in Polokwane early morning before hitting the N1 highway to Luthuli House. He said they would humbly request the President to leave and that Luthuli House would be their home until they were informed of Zuma’s resignation as head of State and party leader. With that they would demand the entire National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC to accompany him and to be replaced by credible names in good standing to lead the organisation towards the 2017 congress, he explained. According to him names like Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela would assist to rid the movement of elements destroying it.
Earlier in the week Ancyl Provincial Spokesperson Matome Moremi said they wouldn’t physically prevent anyone from participating in the action, but participation would be seen in contravention of the Ancyl Constitution. He attributed mobilisation to a cartel of individuals in the Congress of the People (Cope) and the Office of the Premier in Limpopo. On Friday the Ancyl in the province dismissed false reports about the #ZumaMustFall march in a statement in which it noted with disgust the purported plan by so-called Ancyl Limpopo members to march to Luthuli House on Monday. In the media advisory Moremi referred to an ordinary Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting last Tuesday and said at no stage had the matter regarding such counter-revolutionary march arose.
He further stated that the Ancyl in Limpopo distanced itself from the hooligans and court brigades masquerading as the structure in the province. “It is interesting to note that most of these hoodlums are Cope returnees and former Cope sympathisers who left Cope when they could not be elected in its youth structure and since then they have been trying hard through means, including courts, to smuggle themselves in(to) positions of leading (leadership).”
A member of Ancyl in Limpopo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, predicted that Monday’s march might not reach its intended outcome. He referred to multitudes of discontented members of the youth league of the ruling party from across Limpopo being expected to participate in the march, to be determined by the availability of the necessary financial muscle to properly coordinate the intended action. The perceived wave of discontent leading to the call for Zuma to fall was increasing on a daily basis and shouldn’t be taken for granted, he stressed. There was little the Ancyl provincial executive structure could do to stop the participation of members in the planned peaceful protest as they didn’t have the powers, he reckoned and added that the leadership of the same provincial structure did not speak on behalf of its true membership. In lashing out at the Ancyl PEC, he said members were frustrated over the fact that they didn’t have a platform for raising their views anymore. He raised the issue that in addition to what was happening in the ANC at the moment, there were the silent voices starting to come out. “At the helm of it all is the common denominator – Jacob Zuma. The general thinking is that if he stepped down things should be better, but if he steps down today things would be worse. The ANC would be finished and there would be little to fight for. They are tearing apart the movement. Those at the helm of the factional divide should swallow their pride and get along with each other.”
He conceded that it was the first time that Zuma’s own structures started rising in defiance against him, demanding him to step down or be recalled. The writing has long been on the wall, though, and the election results shouldn’t have been such a shock to the system, according to the source. He had been among the cadres lobbying for ruling party votes prior to the local government elections being repeatedly told by ANC members that it was because of Zuma that they would abstain from voting, he concluded.

Story and photo: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com

Featured photo: African National Congress Youth League (Ancyl) Provincial Spokesperson Matome Moremi addresses the media during a presser hosted jointly with Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) in Limpopo at Frans Mohlala House on Tuesday.