LISTEN | Zuma blames ANC for black poverty in Youth Day speech

Former ANC president and MK Party leader Jacob Zuma has hit out at what he describes as the ANC’s desertion of black people.

Addressing a Youth Day crowd at Mayine Sports Ground in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, on Tuesday, Zuma launched an attack on the current ANC leadership, blaming them for black poverty and accusing them of merging with white interests.

“Its current leaders do not understand the ANC’s mission. They have merged with white people. They are now one and have forgotten about us. We remain in poverty,” Zuma told supporters.

“They stay, eat and do everything together. Some of us were stopped from talking [in meetings] because they wanted to merge with white people and take us back to poverty.”

He said the ANC had failed, which had compelled him to form the MK Party, a party which he said would improve the country.

Zuma used a race-focused message during the rally, urging supporters to “stop voting for white people”.

Zuma told supporters that wealth in SA remained concentrated in white hands and suggested this was the result of political betrayal.

“In this country, all the money is with white people. Some have been bribed by white people to form political parties to dilute our power,” he said.

He urged voters to reject parties he associated with white interests.

“Tell people to stop voting for white people. They get excited when they vote for white people ... The time has come to take our forefathers’ country back because we are the majority.”

Despite the rhetoric, Zuma insisted his party’s position was not driven by hatred. “We do not hate anyone, but we are fixing our forefathers’ country.”

He also made campaign promises focused on education, saying an MK Party government would ensure access to schooling for black children. “No child of a black person will be out of school because they do not have money.”

Zuma’s remarks come as political parties intensify campaigning ahead of the November local government elections, with issues of inequality, race and economic exclusion continuing to dominate public debate.

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