ZUMA DUCKS YOUTH LEAGUE
Chabane leads June 16 rally
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma flew out of the country yesterday to avoid attending the main Youth Day rally where he was expected to be booed and ridiculed by angry ANC Youth League members.
Zuma was originally scheduled to leave the country today after addressing the national rally at Wolfson Stadium, KwaZakhele in Port Elizabeth yesterday.
However, he opted to leave a day earlier after being convinced by his close allies not to travel to the Eastern Cape. Zuma will attend the G20 summit that begins tomorrow in Los Cabos, Mexico.
While his office announced his change of plans only yesterday, news had already filtered through as early as Wednesday that Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane would replace him at the rally.
It is not clear why Kgalema Motlanthe, the deputy president, did not take Zuma’s place.
It is understood that while Zuma was initially adamant he would travel to the Eastern Cape, his close allies managed to convince him not to do so.
The hosting of the main rally in Port Elizabeth came after a tussle between Zuma’s office and outgoing National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) chairman Andile Lungisa over the venue. Zuma wanted the event to be taken to Mpumalanga but the NYDA stood firm, arguing that it be held in the Eastern Cape as Mpumalanga had already hosted the national rally in 2010. It is also understood that youth league members
– angry at the expulsion of their leader Julius Malema – had planned to “confront” Zuma about his failure to deliver on job creation, among other things. Zuma was embarrassed in February when unruly youth league members heckled him in Cape Town as he addressed an ANC centenary memorial lecture.
On the other hand, Tokyo Sexwale has been criss-crossing the country in what Zuma backers claim is part of his campaign to take on Zuma in December in Mangaung.