ANC youth leader’s praise of Mugabe branded an insult to Zimbabweans

By Lance Guma
31 October 2006

African National Congress Youth League president Fikile Mbalula has been told to spend some time in rural Zimbabwe and not some five star hotel, before opening his mouth in praise of Robert Mugabe. The comments were made by Patricia de Lille the leader of the opposition Independent Democrats (ID) in South Africa. She was responding to remarks by the youth leader who told an ANC rally in South Africa that Mugabe was ‘doing good work,’ and ‘we love him for redistributing the wealth and land to the people.’ Lille said the comments were an insult to the many Zimbabweans who have had to suffer under Mugabe’s tyranny.

The ID sent out a statement saying they ‘would like to advise Mbalula to visit Zimbabwe and stay in the rural areas and not a five star hotel - if there are still any left in the country - to witness the hardship Zimbabweans are going through every day under Mugabe’s unpredictable regime.’ De Lille added, ‘With inflation out of control in Zimbabwe and many millions unemployed, Mbalula must explain what wealth he is talking about…Or is he talking about South Africa’s wealth, which we are sharing with thousands of Zimbabweans who have fled their country for greener pastures?’

De Lille told Newsreel in an interview that if Mugabe was ‘doing good’ then ‘tens of thousands of Zimbabweans would not have emigrated to Europe, or anywhere else in the world.’ She says innocent Zimbabweans are risking their lives every night by swimming across the crocodile infested Limpopo River trying to get into South Africa. Zimbabwe, which previously was regarded as the breadbasket of Africa, now had a large part of the population facing starvation. De Lille added. ‘The Independent Democrats do recognize the role Mugabe played in the struggle, but all this is lost in the face of his recent actions.’