South Africa's Ruling Party Reins in Youth Leader
Yesterday South Africa's ruling African National Congress, or ANC, has urged restraint from its militant youth leader and other members. It's asked them to refrain from singing racial inflammatory songs. It comes in the wake of the murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre'blanche last weekend.
[Gwede Mantashe, Secretary-General]: (Male, English)
"The message that we have communicated to all our structures including Malema himself as the president of the youth league, is that restrain yourself, don't put yourself in a position where you become scapegoats for other agendas. That is the message that we have sent to him, we have sent it to him, we have sent it to other structures."
Terre'blanche's Afrikaner Resistance Movement and opposition parties have linked the killing to sentiment fuelled by the president of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, and his singing of a song from the era of the struggle against apartheid.
[Gwede Mantashe, Secretary-General]: (Male, English)
"Nobody must put pressure on us and want to have an instant solution, because our view is that this hysteria about whether we met Malema yesterday, and told him specifically not to sing this song. It's a hysteria that is actually short-sighted, narrow and will not help us find solutions."
The ANC has rejected any link between the song and the murder, but President Jacob Zuma has appealed for calm two months before South Africa is due to host the soccer World Cup.
Terre'blanche, who fought to preserve white rule in the 1990s, was brutally murdered on Saturday. Police say the murder resulted from a dispute over pay with two black farm workers. They were charged with his murder on Tuesday.
[Gwede Mantashe, Secretary-General]: (Male, English)
"The message that we have communicated to all our structures including Malema himself as the president of the youth league, is that restrain yourself, don't put yourself in a position where you become scapegoats for other agendas. That is the message that we have sent to him, we have sent it to him, we have sent it to other structures."
Terre'blanche's Afrikaner Resistance Movement and opposition parties have linked the killing to sentiment fuelled by the president of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, and his singing of a song from the era of the struggle against apartheid.
[Gwede Mantashe, Secretary-General]: (Male, English)
"Nobody must put pressure on us and want to have an instant solution, because our view is that this hysteria about whether we met Malema yesterday, and told him specifically not to sing this song. It's a hysteria that is actually short-sighted, narrow and will not help us find solutions."
The ANC has rejected any link between the song and the murder, but President Jacob Zuma has appealed for calm two months before South Africa is due to host the soccer World Cup.
Terre'blanche, who fought to preserve white rule in the 1990s, was brutally murdered on Saturday. Police say the murder resulted from a dispute over pay with two black farm workers. They were charged with his murder on Tuesday.
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