ANC YOUTH LEAGUE IN KZN WANTS TO REVIVE SDUs
Call for revival of self-defence units sparks deep concern
THE ANCYL in KwaZuluNatal has made an unprecedented call for the revival of the ANC’s defunct self-defence units (SDUs) to protect party leaders from the escalating political murders in that province.
ANCYL provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo said the league would present the idea of the SDUs at the ANC’s provincial general council (PGC), meeting in Durban today and tomorrow.
“We are going to raise this in the provincial executive committee of the ANC first thing tomorrow (today).”
But ANC leaders, KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas and the IFP have all rejected the idea of arming young people.
Sabelo told thousands of mourners in Howick in the Midlands on Saturday that young people should be recruited to join the SDUs and be trained on handling firearms.
He was keynote speaker at the funeral of Sthembiso Mhlongo, an ANC councillor and ANCYL deputy secretary in the Moses Mabhida region.
Mhlongo was gunned down in the early hours of November 23 by unknown gunmen who knocked on his door, claiming to be police officers.
More than 10 ANC leaders, including former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa, were killed this year.
“Members of the units should be trained to do patrols and handle firearms so that they can defend their communities and defend their leaders,” Sabelo said.
He added that it was clear that the police lacked the capacity to solve the political killings in the province.
“The ANCYL members have raised their hands to be the first to be trained should the government agree to implement this programme. We are willing to serve and we are willing to put our lives at stake to ensure that our communities are safe.”
He added that young people in general and beyond political affiliations should be welcomed to join the units.
Sabelo said the units should operate in a form of neighbourhood watches using WhatsApp groups.
“In the case of Mhlongo, when these people knocked on his door at 2am, the first thing he should have done was to call for back-up using the WhatsApp group, and alerting people who were on duty and patrolling,” he said.
The SDUs and IFP-aligned self-protection units were rivals associated with political violence that claimed thousands of lives between the late 1980s and early 1990s in KZN and Gauteng.
Sabelo said young people with criminal motives should be barred from joining the units. “We must take young people who are really concerned about crime in this country and who want to bring it to an end,” he said.
ANC deputy provincial secretary Mluleki Ndobe said the party would welcome any idea of dealing with political murders, but he said arming communities was out of the question. (But) the matter would be discussed at the provincial executive committee and PGC, he said.
“We agree that there should be tight security measures in the communities. Then we can discuss if it would be relevant to bring back the SDUs, which were used to fight apartheid, and what impression that would create.
“It is not ANC policy to train civilians to handle firearms, because there are law enforcement agencies,” he said.
When approached about this, De Haas said: “No, no, no. Of course not, because violence breeds violence. No more arms, because we have too many armed people running around (with guns),” she added.
IFP national chairperson Blessed Gwala said the SDUs had caused damage in the province. “The truth is that the units operated as kangaroo courts, intimidating people, causing destruction and dividing communities,” he added.
No, no, no. Violence breeds violence