E Cape Youth League threatens to boo Gordhan as row rages
ANC Youth League leaders in the province issued a stern warning yesterday to axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan saying if he continued to criticise the ANC outside party structures, he might also be booed by ANC youth in the Eastern Cape.
The youth body’s task team head Mziwonke Ndabeni said: “If he continues to do that, we cannot rule out that reaction also here in the Eastern Cape.”
Ndabeni was responding to the heckling of Gordhan and ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize while delivering their speeches at Ahmed Kathrada’s memorial service in KwaZulu-Natal last Saturday.
The organisers of the event had earlier secured a court interdict to block the youth league from protesting.
However the Durban High Court ruled that members could attend on condition they did not disrupt proceedings.
KZN ANCYL secretary Thanduxolo Sabela told the media at the weekend that Gordhan provoked their members when he made a statement accusing ANC members of carrying brown envelopes.
Ndabeni said in as much as they did not condone any disruptions by anyone, but in this instance as ANCYL Eastern Cape, they did not support Gordhan’s decision to go against the ANC’s policies which state that members must use ANC structures to criticise the party.
ANC members were reminded about this policy following statements by several ANC leaders, including Gordhan, at Kathrada memorial services hosted in Gauteng and the Western Cape a week ago.
The services were organised by the Kathrada Foundation and coincided with a very dramatic week in ANC’s calendar as Kathrada died when President Jacob Zuma took at the controversial decision to fire Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas as well as four other ministers from his cabinet.
“The conduct to disrupt any activity including a memorial service or a rally for that matter, we do not condone.
“But the statement of national officials says members of the ANC must desist from being involved in public spats.
“Pravin [Gordhan] is a member of the national executive committee. He went to the Gauteng memorial service and did the same [criticised the ANC].
“He went to Cape Town and did the same.
“The ANC said this thing must stop, but he went on to address the third memorial service in KZN having been advised that ‘don’t do this thing’. He did.
“So we also cannot condone such a conduct against ANC’s very own advice,” said Ndabeni.
He also criticised those taking exception to the president’s decision to recall Gordhan, saying “people are not born ministers”.
“It’s not the first time that a currently serving NEC member is recalled,” Ndabeni added.
Gordhan has said several times that he accepted the president’s prerogative to replace him with Minister Malusi Gigaba.
The ANCYL task team met at its provincial headquarters in Calata House, King William’s Town, yesterday to discuss the ANC national officials’ handling of the cabinet reshuffle. —