ANCYL call for young people to pay for Nkandla shameful  

29 June 2016

The ANCYL’s call for the youth to mobilise and help President Zuma pay for his R7.8 million Nkandla bill is shameful and should be treated with contempt that it deserves.

President Zuma, and nobody else, must pay back the Nkandla money. To this end, the DA rejects the notion that any person can pay back any portion of the R7.8 million public funds used for upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s private residence at Nkandla, other than President Zuma himself.

While 6 in 10 of our youth are without jobs and many students have no funds to complete their studies; it is quite frankly disgusting to call upon the already struggling youth to help a corrupt President who has done so little to help them progress in life.

Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home is a hallmark of disregard for the countless people who have to suffer through poverty because the ANC government has neglected them. The fact that the ANCYL still has the nerve not only to support the use of state funds for the President’s house is deeply insensitive to the plight of young people in South Africa.

We wish to make it clear that Zuma must pay the money “personally”. That is what is ordered by the Constitutional Court and we will be keeping a keen eye on the payment being made expeditiously.

President Zuma has a track record of getting his pals to pay his bills and mobilizing the youth is now a step too far. 

A KPMG report prepared on the Scorpions’ instructions ahead of Zuma’s high court appearance in Pietermaritzburg in September 2006 revealed that Zuma benefited from benefactors to the value of at least R3 million. This cannot and must not happen again.

At the end of it all, the R7.8 million being paid back by Zuma is a small victory for our youth. Billions are needed to help provide students with access to quality education and for the development of small business that will subsequently provide them with jobs. Addressing these needs should be the priority of the ANCYL and not blindly protecting President Jacob Zuma.

The DA will fight to ensure that the youth no longer suffer due to ANC corruption, we will ensure that our youth are a priority in government spending and should be protected from being used as political pawns as the ANCYL has disgracefully attempted. On 03 August our young South Africans have an opportunity to vote for a DA government that will bring change that stops corruption.

Issued by Yusuf Cassim, DASO Leader, 29 June 2016