Cape Town – Former president Jacob Zuma reportedly used his birthday celebrations to take a swipe at President Cyril Ramaphosa and called on the youth to take a stand against his government.
Zuma’s 81st birthday party celebration in Durban was organised by the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) on Wednesday, reported IOL. The party was attended by Sanco members and the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco), the report said.
According to TimesLIVE, Zuma called Ramaphosa a “low-life thief” and urged the youth not to stay silent.
The report said that the former president referred to the Phala Phala saga without naming Ramaphosa.
“The youth are said to be able to make change, but you are just quiet. Even when a family is led by a thief, somebody stealing money, you are just quiet.
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“You allow parliament to sit discussing a thug. The police are not making arrests — the discussion is something completely off the mark, they call it impeachment. What does an impeachment have to do with mattress filled money? And why are you youth quiet when your future is at stake?” the report quoted Zuma as asking.
He said the youth in the apartheid era had played its part and changed the direction of the country but the current youth had “no direction”.
“I want a fearless youth… We have no reason to respect a low-life thief because that person leads a country. We can’t allow for silence when politicians and leaders are doing wrong – as citizens we cannot afford to be quiet.” the report quoted Zuma as saying.
Zuma had previously accused Ramaphosa buying his position as head of the ruling party, a month ahead of the party’s 55th national conference.
He alleged that Ramaphosa used a lot of money to buy his position as president of the ANC and accused him of “abusing the democratic process”.
