ANCYL to hold night vigil elsewhere

The ANC Youth League will hold its night vigil at another venue, after being denied permission to do so at the Union Buildings.

"The march will go ahead as planned, but the vigil will be held at a separate venue," the league's spokesman Floyd Shivambu said in a statement on Tuesday.

The league said its leadership was in discussions with the Tshwane metro police and other authorities on the vigil's venue.

Tshwane metro police denied the youth league permission to hold a vigil outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday night.

Tshwane metro spokesman Console Tleane said this was decided at a meeting with the convenors of the march, the metro police, the SA Police Service, the Tshwane emergency services and the presidency on Tuesday.

"The presidency declined the request for the league to hold a vigil on Thursday night at the Union Buildings South Lawns, citing the fact that the Union Buildings is a national key point," Tleane said in a statement.

However, permission was granted for the ANC Youth League to march to the Union Buildings on Friday morning to hand a memorandum to the presidency.

The league had planned to stage its "economic freedom" march from Johannesburg to Pretoria to highlight the plight of the poor on Thursday, hold a night vigil on Thursday evening, and then present the memorandum on Friday morning.