Youth league thugs shame our noble history

As Women's Month drew to a close, one couldn't help but draw comparisons between the gallant women who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9 1956 and the thuggery outside Luthuli House this week.

How times have changed! How spurious, too, the motivation for this week's demonstrations!

The women's march of 1956 and those that followed it, like Sharpeville, the 1976 Soweto uprising and the numerous protests under the banner of the United Democratic Front, bore the hallmarks of authenticity, discipline and focus.

Those were the days when the oppressed and those whites who believed in justice - and were sympathetic to the notion of a free country for all - united in defiance of unjust laws.

They embarked on civil disobedience campaigns against forced removals, pass laws, Bantu education and apartheid brutality.

By 1989, thousands of people across the country had joined the civil disobedience campaign and brought the government to its knees.

The marches were peaceful with perhaps the struggle songs being the only evidence of a nation at war.

"I hear the word 'march' these days and I wonder if these young people understand what it means to march," said Lauretta Ngcobo at the inaugural Women's March Lecture and Dialogue, held on Tuesday not too far from the events outside ANC headquarters.

"You have thousands of people in front of you and behind you. Marching requires focus and discipline because each missed step could create havoc in the procession," said Ngcobo, a writer who took part in the women's march.

Now, contrast this with the mayhem that spilt through the streets of Johannesburg this week, in what the protesters described as support for the highly uncouth ANC Youth League boss, Julius Malema.

Their defiance is directed against a disciplinary hearing conducted by a political party of which they presumably are members. It is therefore reasonable to expect them and their leader to abide by that party's rules and to understand that there are remarks and actions which bring their party into disrepute and for which there are consequences.

Well, perhaps it's asking a bit much from this bunch to acquaint themselves with the rules regulating their organisation. But surely, the apology from their boss for suggesting the youth league would topple the democratic government of Botswana ought to have sent a signal of wrongdoing on his part.

As Ngcobo related her story - of a political activist, a wife and a mother who found herself leaving her very young children to go into exile for fear of imminent imprisonment and possibly death - I couldn't help wonder whether the hooligans burning ANC flags in the streets of Johannesburg comprehended the sacrifices made by millions of South Africans for them to attain freedom.

In another event to celebrate Women's Month, former women political prisoners spoke of the indignity they endured while in prison. They recounted the degradation of having their private parts searched for "hidden objects". They spoke of the humiliation at being denied underwear.

As I watched the looting thugs hurling insults and bottles at journalists, I couldn't help wonder if they had any inkling of the bans media workers had to endure just to bring the atrocities in South Africa's townships to the public. I couldn't for a moment think they had any comprehension of the impact of the Protection of Information Bill now being debated in parliament, which could severely curtail the work of the people they were attacking.

There are those who have excused the behaviour of these young people by highlighting their deep despair regarding jobs and prospects for education or business.

This might be true, but the high unemployment levels and hopelessness young people face has very little to do with the anarchy we saw in the city centre this week. This is the lot which showed similar disdain for the law during their marches as Cosas members. They have no discipline or respect for leadership and the rights of others.

It is highly unfair for the millions of young people who face similar circumstances, but deal with their dilemma with maturity, to be lumped with Malema supporters who trashed the city. It is similarly irresponsible to equate their actions with the youth of 1976, who had legitimate grievances and were not just supporting an unruly individual.