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Cope: ‘SA has had enough of people wanting to kill for Zuma’

The Congress of the People (Cope) on Thursday confirmed that it had charged African National Congress Youth League president Collen Maine‚ “for unlawfully inciting violence in breach of the Constitution”.

The party opened the case at the Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria on Wednesday for making the “following incendiary remarks”:

“Those who seek to disrupt the State of the Nation must prepare themselves for a civil war... The youth league will physically remove woodworkers from parliament. We cannot allow Julius Malema and his monkeys to run our country amok and turn this country into a banana republic.”

Cope’s Dennis Bloem said the comment was in contravention of Section (16)(2)(b) of the Constitution excludes from the the right of freedom of expression‚ “incitement of imminent violence”.

Maine remarks‚ “as the youth leader of the largest political formation in South Africa”‚ Bloem said‚ “have to be taken very seriously”.

“There is increasing volatility in South Africa and the role of political leaders is to act constructively and to lead the nation forward. War talk will plunge the country into utter chaos.

“South Africa has had enough of people wanting to kill for Zuma to feed at the trough but no intense desire from the same people to rescue the economy so as to ameliorate the economic plight of the people.

“Opportunistic leaders such as Maine care only about their own progress on the political ladder and nothing else.”