NUMSA CONDEMNS THE BURNING OF ANC T-SHIRTS BY PROTESTERS
6 September 2011
The Wits Central National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) condemns the burning of an ANC t-shirt bearing the face of the ANC President Cde Jacob Zuma by the protesting community of Thembelihle, South East of Johannesburg, Gauteng. No amount of anger or frustration by the protesters can justify their counter-revolution acts reminiscent of the enemies of the ANC led liberation movement of the 80's.
The burning of the ANC t-shirt or symbols is an act of hooliganism and comrade tsotsi's. We call on the ANC and the Alliance structures to identify the culprits with an intention to rid them from our ranks. The burning of the ANC t-shirt or flag is an automatic declaration of war on the ANC and its allies. The ANC and the movement as a whole should heed the revolutionary call made by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, that ‘ a party becomes strong by purging itself'. The ANC and the Alliance components are not a breeding ground for hooliganism and thuggery acts under the guise of radicalism and militancy for faster and improved service delivery.
We call on the Thembelihle community to guard against enemies of the ANC and the Alliance who are hijacking their genuine grievances for poor service delivery to undermine the ANC and its political authority and leadership in society. The ANC and the Alliance remains committed in improving the conditions or plights of our people informed by its long standing historical mission and vision of building a better life for all as encapsulated in the Freedom Charter. This is the vision that some had to pay the supreme price for hoisting the flag of the ANC or even wearing the ANC t-shirt when it was not fashionable to do so under conditions of illegality.
We further call on the structures of the ANC-led Alliance to take-over this legitimate protest by community of Thembelihle by providing leadership and rally society in order to isolate comrade tsotsi's or agent provocateurs who are hell-bent on destroying the ANC and all its stands for, informed by narrow self-centred and sectarian agendas.
We reiterate our call for the nationalisation of mines, banks and other monopoly industries in order to respond to the pressing issues faced by the working class and poor communities in our country. The failure to heed this call by the movement as a whole, will be plunging itself into failure.
Statement issued by Sizwe Dlamini, NUMSA Wits Central Regional Secretary, September 6 2011
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