Kodwa tells ANC’s Young Lions to ‘think like an elephant’‚ rather than rush with the ‘speed of a cheetah’

African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Zizi Kodwa cautioned an impatient ANC Youth League (ANCYL) against rushed decisions after the Young Lions said they needed to take over the reins from the mother body for things to move with speed.

The ANCYL — which hosted a fundraising gala dinner at Suncoast Casino on Thursday evening ahead of Saturday’s Youth Month Rally — said the ruling party was moving at an “elephant’s pace” in expediting radical economic changes in the country.

Addressing the gala dinner‚ ANCYL secretary-general Njabulo Nzuza said he understood where the problem lay with the ANC: “Old people are conservative by nature.

“The ANC has good policies but take time to implement them. Only an ANC which has sound economical and political policies would take a resolution to establish a state bank and then move at an elephant’s pace in implementing those decisions‚” he said to applause from his peers.

“We need young people to take over the ANC and move in a speed of a cheetah.”

However‚ Kodwa‚ who is also an ANC national executive committee member‚ cautioned against this‚ saying that taking sound decisions was a long and protracted process.

“You will have to appreciate the wisdom of the elephant‚ slow as it is. It takes time to take decisions. When the ANC‚ at one time‚ decided to recall a president‚ it just didn’t take the decision‚ but it spent three days debating it‚” said Kodwa‚ a former ANCYL spokesman himself.

Nzuza had also encouraged business to invest in the ANCYL because they were the future of the country.

“Business must invest in the ANC and in the ANC Youth League in particular as they are the future. If business does not invest in the ANC Youth League the future will be compromised and if the future of the ANCLY is compromised there will be instability‚” he said.

He warned the youth against being a selfish generation and said that it should strive to be a selfless generation.

“Who will focus on nation-building if we are building individualism‚” asked Nzuza.

Kodwa had another word of prudence for the youth who have been selected to be the ANC’s mayoral candidates.

“If you are mayor‚ don’t think you are the best mayor and start not to listen to the people who elected you. Remember it is the ANC that elected and deployed you‚” he said.

Kodwa also revealed that the system of deployment was not perfect but that they were striving to do better.

Meanwhile‚ the ANCYL on Friday morning demanded that charges be brought against the owners of a KwaZulu-Natal guest house that barred blacks or government employees from staying there.

An email from Andre Slade‚ the owner of the Sodwana Bay Guest House in northern KZN‚ went viral on Thursday after it was published on social media.

In response to a booking request‚ Slade wrote: “Hi. We do not accommodate blacks or government officials any longer.”

Slade told Tiso Black Star Group Digital that he stood by the email‚ saying it was written in the Bible that black and white people should be segregated.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane was one of the first to condemn the apparent racism‚ saying on Thursday: “I wish to use this opportunity to state again that racism‚ and its bedfellows – homophobia‚ sexism and religious intolerance – have no place in our democratic society.

“These incidents undermine and derail the difficult yet necessary project of building a fair and reconciled South Africa.”

The ANCYL’s KZN secretary‚ Thanduxolo Sabelo‚ on Friday joined the chorus of criticism against Slate and the resort’s “racist policy”.

He said a protest march and picket would be held on Wednesday at the guest house. They would also lay a charge against the owners.

“We believe they are operating illegally under the Constitution of South Africa‚ which makes all South Africans equal. We want a court of law to declare that what they are doing is illegal‚” he said.

Sabelo said that his organisation wanted the guest house to be shut down.

“The ANC will never sit back and relax when there are people who are disrespecting the freedoms that was brought down to us by President Madiba and the ANC. They must change their policy. And when they do‚ I will be the first to go and book and spend a night at the guest house.

“We want to show them that there is no place for this in the new South Africa. We are not picketing to embarrass the owner‚ but to show him that they are part of the old South Africa. They must not isolate themselves from the benefits of being in a new South Africa that embraces everyone‚” he said.

The SA Human Rights Commission and the office of newly elected KZN MEC for economic development and tourism‚ Sihle Zikalala‚ are both investigating complaints against the guest house. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital

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