A former Wits University student representative council leader on Friday joined the backlash against ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe for his comment about shutting universities to teach student protesters a lesson.
“Every time Mantashe opens his mouth he spews bile‚” said Mcebo Dlamini.
Dlamini was a leader of the #FeesMustFall Movement‚ who was dismissed as SRC leader last year following a disciplinary hearing‚ which he followed with racist comments and “I love Hitler” Facebook posts.
Mantashe said on the sidelines of the South African Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union conference in Cape Town on Wednesday” “If you don’t have a responsibility that goes with a right‚ you must actually take away the right. After a year‚ people will know higher education will be important for their future.
Dlamini said it was because of statements such as Mantashe’s that the ANC has lost support over the years.
“That was an irresponsible statement from a secretary general‚ from a communist‚ from a father. But then it must tell you that these ANC leaders and our leaders in government‚ they don’t have children in these universities so they don’t care.”
Dlamini said that “if the ANC continues with its arrogance”‚ it will be again punished at the 2019 polls.
He was speaking to students who had gathered at the Parktown‚ Johannesburg‚ campus.
The students are now making their way to Wits main campus in Braamfontein to meet up with other students. From there they will go to Cosatu House to hand over a memorandum of demands to the leaders of labour federation the Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu).
“This is a national issue that parents can’t afford to ignore. We are now lobbying society through Cosatu because we are children of the working class. The majority of people who are here cannot afford the fees [because they] are children of the working class‚” said Dlamini.
“So we are going to Cosatu to say: ‘As representatives of the working class‚ you can’t afford to be quiet’. Their silence is very loud and it is subjecting us‚ as children as of the working class‚ to brutal force by the police.”
Comments like Gwede Mantashe’s will cost the party in 2019 elections‚ says former Wits SRC leader
A former Wits University student representative council leader on Friday joined the backlash against ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe for his comment about shutting universities to teach student protesters a lesson.
“Every time Mantashe opens his mouth he spews bile‚” said Mcebo Dlamini.
Dlamini was a leader of the #FeesMustFall Movement‚ who was dismissed as SRC leader last year following a disciplinary hearing‚ which he followed with racist comments and “I love Hitler” Facebook posts.
Mantashe said on the sidelines of the South African Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union conference in Cape Town on Wednesday” “If you don’t have a responsibility that goes with a right‚ you must actually take away the right. After a year‚ people will know higher education will be important for their future.
Dlamini said it was because of statements such as Mantashe’s that the ANC has lost support over the years.
“That was an irresponsible statement from a secretary general‚ from a communist‚ from a father. But then it must tell you that these ANC leaders and our leaders in government‚ they don’t have children in these universities so they don’t care.”
Dlamini said that “if the ANC continues with its arrogance”‚ it will be again punished at the 2019 polls.
He was speaking to students who had gathered at the Parktown‚ Johannesburg‚ campus.
The students are now making their way to Wits main campus in Braamfontein to meet up with other students. From there they will go to Cosatu House to hand over a memorandum of demands to the leaders of labour federation the Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu).
“This is a national issue that parents can’t afford to ignore. We are now lobbying society through Cosatu because we are children of the working class. The majority of people who are here cannot afford the fees [because they] are children of the working class‚” said Dlamini.
“So we are going to Cosatu to say: ‘As representatives of the working class‚ you can’t afford to be quiet’. Their silence is very loud and it is subjecting us‚ as children as of the working class‚ to brutal force by the police.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos