SA to be 'ungovernable'

22 August 2011 - 02:43 By ANNA MAJAVU
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Andile Lungisa, the chairman of the National Youth Development Agency, which gets R350-million a year to create opportunities for young people, has threatened to make South Africa "ungovernable" next month because of high youth unemployment.

At the Black Management Forum young professionals' summit in Cape Town on Friday, he attacked the ANC government, young black professionals, African leaders, the DA, Afriforum and the "Stellenbosch mafia".

"In September, we are going to close every street in South Africa. If there is a cheese in your fridge, they are going to take it," Lungisa said.

"On the slowness of government, we will march; we will close all the streets."

Lungisa hit out at white and black professionals, saying: "Those who have hairstyles, those who are wearing ties but not helping their community, will be affected. The white males, they need to be attended [to]."

His remarks came after young black professionals in the audience asked him if the agency gave funding to small businesses, or if that was only "a myth".

Lungisa responded by lashing out at the forum's young professionals provincial leader, Thuso Segopolo, his colleague. Papama Matsiliza, DA youth leader Makashule Gana and Charl Oberholzer, of Afriforum, who had just held a panel discussion on "youth as the epicentre of African development".

Lungisa told them they had been talking about Africa without knowing anything about African Union agreements.

"Most of the panellists are not informed," Lungisa told them. "I must conduct induction and build your capacity."

South Africa's problems were due to the "Stellenbosch mafia", a group of unnamed, wealthy Stellenbosch families, whom Julius Malema blamed last month for creating opposition to nationalisation.

"The issue of Stellenbosch mafias, the Oppenheimers, must be attended [to. It cannot be] that all of us must live with five white families who live in Stellenbosch and control the economy."

Lungisa said that "on the African continent we have the weakest leadership ever" - before the audience reminded him to answer the question about funding by his agency.

He said a state due-diligence investigation had found that the agency needed R600-million a year to operate.

"That part was never processed by our own government.

"It became the first limitation. Up to today, the [agency] has not been funded by our own government. It survived because of creativity," Lungisa said.

In fact, the agency got R370-million from the government last year. In February, it was allocated R1.22-billion for the next three years, about R400-million a year.

Lungisa said the quality of education in South Africa was poor. "If you go to Standard Bank, to FNB, to the Reserve Bank, all the guys in charge, they come from Zimbabwe," said Lungisa.

Higher-quality Zimbabwean education had to be implemented in South Africa.

Black Management Forum committee member Andile Nomlala said his organisation would not support Lungisa's plan for marches next month.

Lungisa was "making very scary declarations of making this country ungovernable. I stand very worried because surely this will affect my business", he said.

Nomlala said the forum's young professionals would rather find solutions. He told Lungisa they had "adopted" township schools and were raising funds for them.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now