The Mercury
*Tear gas stampede at youth league’s Durban meeting* *Sipho Khumalo, The Mercury, Durban, 4 October 2011*ANGER over the disbanding of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League executive by the league’s national leaders almost exploded into violence last night when fuming youth league members from the eThekwini region tried to storm a meeting being addressed by the league’s national executive in Durban.
The youth league members, who had arrived in their hundreds at the ANC’s Commercial City offices in Durban, tried to force their way into the meeting after being locked out.
Pandemonium broke out when the angry youths, singing songs in favour of President Jacob Zuma and chanting slogans against youth league president Julius Malema, approached the office where the meeting was held on the 21st floor of the building.
Security guards fired tear gas, causing a stampede in the small corridors of the building. However, no one was injured.
The youths were driven out of the building by the guards. Later, police vehicles took up positions outside the building.The youths remained outside the office and were later addressed by youth league eThekwini regional chairman Jomo Sibiya.
Shouting “forward with Zuma”, Sibiya said the youth league national executive was trying to divide the league in the province and region by handpicking those people it wanted to deal with.
The group was also addressed by the chairman of the disbanded KZN executive, Mthandeni Dlungwana, who said the ANC’s provincial leadership was meeting last night to take stock of the situation.
“The feeling of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is that attempts are underway to destabilise the party in the province,” said Dlungwana.
The meeting at Commercial City last night was addressed by members of the ANCYL led by Mxolisi Zwane who explained why the provincial youth league leaders had been suspended.
On Sunday, it was announced that the provincial executive had been disbanded for defying national leaders by expressing support for Zuma to serve a second term and for “sowing divisions”.
However, the suspended leaders claimed that they had been disbanded because they did not send members to Joburg to back Malema during his disciplinary hearing last month.
Violence broke out outside the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, at the hearing with Malema supporters burning ANC flags and T-shirts bearing pictures of Zuma.
Youth league spokesman Floyd Shivambu said that yesterday’s meeting in Durban was part of consultations between the league’s national leaders and ANC regions.
Shivambu said consultations would continue despite what he described as “ill-disciplined elements” of the disbanded provincial executive “howling” in the media.
“The reality will ultimately set in that they are no longer members of the provincial executive committee,” he said.
However, he was not available last night to comment on the stampede at Commercial City.
ANC KZN secretary Sihle Zikalala was reported to be in meetings last night and was not available for comment.
*From: http://www.iol.co.za/mercury/tear-gas-stampede-at-youth-league-s-durban-meeting-1.1150046*
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