Youth Day celebration was not a ‘flop’
WELCOMED BY EMPTY SEATS: President Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema walked into an almost-empty Orlando Stadium after they arrived late from the ANCYL congress on Youth Day to commemorate 35 years since the June 16 Soweto uprising of 1976. Picture: Matthews Baloyi WELCOMED BY EMPTY SEATS: President Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema walked into an almost-empty Orlando Stadium after they arrived late from the ANCYL congress on Youth Day to commemorate 35 years since the June 16 Soweto uprising of 1976. Picture: Matthews Baloyi
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) boss Andile Lungisa is unrepentant about the late arrival of President Jacob Zuma at this week’s Youth Day celebrations, and ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema’s unscheduled address there – the result of delays at the league’s congress earlier in the day.
Zuma arrived more than three hours late to a half-full Orlando Stadium on Thursday afternoon, where the official national Youth Day celebrations had started by 9am. This was due to a delayed ANC Youth League congress programme.
It was reported that at least half of the crowd that packed the 40 000-capacity stadium had given up and left by the time Zuma and Malema arrived.
They briefly addressed the remaining people.
Lungisa told The Sunday Independent yesterday that the celebrations had not been a flop because the stadium had still been half-full when Zuma arrived.
He also said Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Joburg mayor Parks Tau, and the entire executive committee of the NYDA, had addressed the people, and musical entertainment had been provided.
Lungisa said Malema had not been scheduled to speak, but had spoken on the Youth Day theme anyway, which was “youth action for economic freedom in our lifetime” – the same as the theme for the youth league congress which Malema had addressed earlier.
Lungisa admitted that with hindsight the Youth Day celebrations should have been scheduled for earlier in the day, followed by the youth league congress.
Last year the celebrations were held earlier due to a World Cup football match having been scheduled for the afternoon.
Zuma’s spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the president’s latecoming had been due to bad planning.
He said when the youth league programme had started at noon on Thursday – three hours late – Zuma’s office had been told that it would be done in two hours as Malema would speak for an hour and Zuma would speak for an hour.
Zuma would only have been a few minutes late for his Orlando address, scheduled for 2.30pm.
But Malema’s speech had run for longer than an hour and a half, and Gauteng chairman Lebogang Maile’s introduction had also taken up some time.
The youth league programme ended around 4pm and Zuma arrived at Orlando an hour later.
ANC Youth League delegates, however, did not follow Zuma to the stadium as planned.
Although Lungisa insisted that other youth organisations had been invited to the event, which was funded mainly by the Gauteng government, DA youth leader Makashule Gana said he had not received an invite. Gana attended a DA celebration in East London instead.
He accused Zuma of putting his party interests before those of the country.
“Zuma understands where his bread is buttered. He had to appease the youth league and had to keep the people in Orlando waiting while satisfying his own internal battles in the ANC,” he said.
Gana said he was unlikely to take the matter up with the party seeing as he had heard rumours that Lungisa was on his way out.
Lungisa said he was set to step down when his term came to an end in May next year.