Gert Sibande ANCYL ‘total shutdown’ march postponed

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Gert Sibande ANCYL 'total shutdown' march postponed
FILE IMAGE: African National Congress Youth League.

The league in the region says certain issues need to be sorted out before the ‘total shutdown’ takes place .


The ANCYL in the Gert Sibande region has postponed a march which they announced was going to be a ‘total shutdown’.

“We had initially planned to march to New Denmark Mine in Standerton but the meetings we had with young people of Lekwa we received an outcry that the issues facing our people in New Denmark Mine are similar to the ones in Thuthuka power station, Standerton, as a result we had to postpone the march to include Thuthuka station,” regional secretary James Nkosi said on Tuesday night.

“You will know that organising a march takes lot of processes including applications which we needed to ensure that our paperwork is in order going to both New Denmark and Thuthuka on the same day,” Nkosi said.

Now the march has been postponed to 4 May 2017 to both the Standerton coal mine and the Eskom power station.

During a radical economic transformation rally in Badplaas on 9 April 2017, regional league leader Trevor Nkosi said they would not march against President Jacob Zuma but for the economic emancipation of the youths.

READ: Trevor Nkosi spits fire at the radical economic transformation assembly

James said they will march for both New Denmark Coal Mine and Thuthuka power station to create jobs and business opportunities as well as developing skills for young, local people.

“Look my brother our people are hungry, they have no opportunities and the government is trying its best to create jobs but we feel that those benefiting from our land are concentrating in making billions while our people remain poor.

“In New Denmark you have a situation where a position as low as a general worker is outsourced from other provinces while people of Lekwa and Gert Sibande remain poor.

“Positions as small as operators are advertised with maths and science as a requirement to exclude our people and you ask yourself how is maths relevant to operate an excavator, and we are saying if they have special skills they want as a

requirement to their posts they must build a skills development centre in Sakhile and train our people to match their requirements,” James said, replying to questions sent on Facebook messenger.

(edited by ZK)

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