‘Anarchists and agent provocat

‘Anarchists and agent provocateurs responsible for protests in SA’. Zuma

The president believes that the burning of schools and vandalising of state property is caused only by “relatively small bands of anarchists and agent provocateurs.”

‘Anarchists and agent provocat

Zuma told ANC members that they should be vigilant and relentless in improving its capacity to lead better. While he admitted that SA had seen an increase in violent protests, he condemned the burning of schools.

“We have said and must say, loudly and consistently, that in a constitutional state there is absolutely no justification for such behaviour. Acts such as burning down schools, factories, buses, libraries, and blockading roads as we have seen in Vuwani and various universities, are condemned without equivocation,” said Zuma.

The president called for the ANC to take care that these protests are not inspired by its own actions and “failure to act in the interest of our people.”

That said, Zuma maintains that the ANC couldn’t possibly be to blame for the service delivery protests happening on a daily basis throughout the country, hinting at a third force looking to destabilise the ruling party’s stranglehold on power.

“We should be the first to know when there is brewing discontent in the population that the enemies of democracy will exploit to reverse the gains of the national democratic revolution.”

He added that there was more than meets the eye with the recent protests.

“The burning of schools in Vuwani is not the act of angry residents even when it may be in their name. Similarly the wanton destruction of facilities at various universities is more than just acts of anger and frustration of the students,” he said.

Zuma called for unity within the ANC and for the ruling party to focus on strengthening itself, rather than paying too much attention to all the negative things happening all around.

“We must not be demoralised by the negative narratives around us. We should remain focused on building the organisation and uniting the movement and our people behind building a strong and responsive local government system,” said Zuma.