Beware of the ‘enemy within’ – said Zuma
Thousands flocked to KwaDlangezwa on Saturday to honour and remember fallen heroes who were killed during the struggle
‘THEY sound like zombies, disrupting parliament and pretending to be fighting for the people, meanwhile they have no respect, throwing insults in the name of democracy.’
These were the words of President Jacob Zuma during the Siyakhumbula Commemoration programme at the University of Zululand on Saturday.
Addressing thousands of ANC members at the Bhekuzulu Hall, Zuma advised them to be cautious of the ‘enemy which is still in the middle’.
He shared his views when he delivered the keynote address at the remembrance event honouring the fallen heroes who lost their lives during the apartheid era and the political violence outbreak in the 1990s.
‘We must be careful of those who pretend to be fighting for the people, but not even knowing what it means to fight for freedom. They are using the same old method used during apartheid – divide and conquer,’ he said.
‘I know who they are and I know who sent them and why.’Zuma said those who lost their lives in the struggle for democracy should not be forgotten, but remembered as true freedom fighters.
‘We must remember the past, analyse where we are and decide where we are going. It is important to protect our democracy and not allow the enemy to come between us.’
Zuma also raised land issues, poverty, inequality and unemployment as challenges which immediately needed to be rectified.
‘The fact that radical economic transformation has not been implemented shows there is an outside force trying to divide the party in order to govern South Africa.’
However, he told members not to be discouraged when people criticise radical economic transformation as it is a policy which has meaning and will be implemented.
‘It is important to rectify the land issue and that of poverty and share the economy among black and white,’ said Zuma.
Tombstones unveiled
The Siyabakhumbula Commemoration programme started at the ANC memorial monument in eSikhaleni, where leaders paid their respects to the fallen heroes.
The memorial proceeded to the KwaDlangezwa cemetery where tombstones of four people who were brutally killed in the early 1990s were unveiled.
The spirit of the late Thulani Mashaba came alive during the last session of the remembrance event held at the University of Zululand, when the ANC Musa Dladla region Chairperson Nonhle Mkhulisi applauded Mashaba for implementing the Siyabakhumbula programme in 2012.
‘We are standing on the shoulders of a giant who started this project with the aim of acknowledging the people who died during the country’s tragic time.
He wanted to acknowledge them by erecting tombstones at their final resting places as a sign of respect,’ said Mkhulisi.
City of uMhlathuze Mayor Mdu Mhlongo, National ANC Youth League Secretary Njabulo Nzuza, NEC member Nomvula Monkonyane and Nocawe Mafu were also part of the memorial.
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