DA's Mazibuko jeered by ANC students

DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko's efforts to drum up support for her party ahead of next year's elections were met with jeers and flying orange peel at the Vaal University of Technology yesterday.

Mazibuko, who was attending the launch of the DA Students' Organisation, was booed by members of rival political groups, who burned DA T-shirts and threw orange peel at her as she spoke.

Among the protesters were members of the SA Students' Congress, the ANC Youth League and the Economic Freedom Fighters' youth wing.

"We're not scared of the ANC Youth League or the ANC. But their behaviour today shows that they are scared of us," Mazibuko said.

Modisane Chaka, the DA Students' Organisation's branch leader, expressed relief at being able to launch the branch after a year of "stonewalling by the [university's student representative council]".

"It was very difficult for us until the DA brought in its lawyers. Last year they threw away our [registration] documents and then claimed we had not submitted them," he said

Derrick Isabirye, the new branch' s deputy chairman, said: "We' ll do whatever we can to help the mother body at election time."

Mazibuko was confident that her party's growing influence in universities across the country would translate into success at the polls.

"In the same way that we were able to take over the SRC at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and establish branches at Fort Hare, the University of Pretoria and others, we're going to establish our branch here," she said.