African National Congress Youth League Statement on the charges against Deputy President Comrade Ronald Lamola

The ANC Youth League has learnt with varying degrees of shock, disbelief and disgust of the charges that the defender of white privilege, Afriforum, seeks to bring against the Deputy President of the African National Congress Youth League, Comrade Ronald Lamola.

The organisation would like to make it categorically clear that neither the ANCYL, its members, leaders nor the general population of South Africa will ever be intimidated by those who want to preserve the economic status quo of this country. The call of the ANCYL, members of the ANC, the trade unions and South Africans in general for the speedy return of our land and our birth right has never today nor will it ever require approval from unpatriotic white farmers and landowners.

We reaffirm the statement made by the Deputy President of the Youth League that those who continue to hold land which was illegally and immorally taken away from the indigenous people of South Africa must voluntarily cooperate with the ANC-led government ensure swift and equitable redistribution of such land to the masses of our people. The willing buyer willing seller principle has failed our people.

We caution against continuing to prioritise greed at the expense of the majority and once again echo the sentiments of the Deputy President that the ANC or the ANCYL may not be able to stem the tide of impatience with the pace of change from the destitute and landless millions of South Africans.

Such a precautionary note raising the hopeless plight of our people blacks in general and Africans in particular can only be construed as an incitement to violence only by those hell-bent to protect white minority privilege at the expense of the black majority's expense.

We will not be shaken in our quest for Economic Freedom in our Lifetime and at the centre of that programme is the need for urgent, unapologetic and radical land redistribution; if need be we are prepared to fight with all that we have for that which our people should have.

Statement issued by the African National Congress Youth League, June 6 2012

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