The DA's march exposes its allergy to democracy
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in KZN is worried by the sudden bravery and irresponsibility of the Democratic Alliance which is hell-bent on holding an illegal march to the private residence of President Jacob Zuma. The DA as self-anointed defenders of the constitution is fully aware that its march is illegal and it is a complete violation of our hallowed constitution.
We call on police to do their work and disperse any groupings that may gather illegally around the private residence of any South African Citizen including that of our State President. We call on police to use this as an opportunity to send a clear message that no one is above the law particularly Helen Zille.
The DA is simply hypocritical. Never in its history has it ever marched against the many ridiculous privileges enjoyed by those who murdered thousands during apartheid. They have never protested against the unlimited privileges enjoyed by De Klerk who is former President of a murderous regime. They have never demanded cancelation of the licence of Apartheid's murderous Doctor Wouter Basson but this DA has no shame marching against refurbishments of the residence of a Black President.
The DA must accept that it lost elections and therefore does not have the mandate to rule this country. It must stop its tendency of being allergic to democracy by trying to force a democratically elected government to do as it pleases using the courts and if it that does not succeed resort to using violence as it did against COSATU members demanding implementation of the Youth Wage Subsidy.
It is also not a coincidence that this march by the DA takes place during a period where we have seen sustained attacks against the NUM through the killing of its shop stewards and the attempts to liquidate not only the NUM but COSATU and sweep them off the surface. This DA protest and the attack on unarmed COSATU members in May by the DA are part of a broader strategy to set the clock back to the times of apartheid.
So desperate is the DA to roll back the clock such that it is trying to bribe journalists with food and transport to cover its cheap endeavors. We view the offer of food and transport to the DA to journalists to cover their march as a complete violation of the Press Code. This is similar to the widely condemned off the record briefing held by Bulelani Ngcuka with Journalists in 2003 lobbying them to discredit President Zuma.
If journalists continue to collude with the DA going as far as being transported by it as we are seeing, this will further discredit an already tainted media. We call on all principled journalists to show their anger at the DA's attempts to bribe them by refusing to participate in any of these cheap antics by the DA. Any journalists who participate in this would have scored a morality own-goal. The DA is trying to win journalists the same way it has won the Public Protector by involving her in shaping DA policies so that she is their proponent when performing her work in the state.
This march by the DA is once more another attempt to pressurize and influence the investigation by the Public Protector so that it rules in a manner they would prefer as they did when she found mal-administration in DA run Municipalities in Midvaal and in the Western Cape where she had to withdraw her findings simply to please the DA. If the Public Protector continues to act in the best interests of the DA even through this investigation she will lose any little dignity and respect she still has.
Hands off the NUM! Hands of COSATU! Hands of the ANC! Hands of the Democratic Government and its President!
Statement issued by Zet Luzipo, COSATU KZN Provincial Secretary, November 2 2012
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