The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal strongly condemns the discharging of a firearm at a public gathering in Nkandla on Sunday.
According to police reports, a man was arrested on Sunday for firing a shot into the air when Democratic Alliance (DA) leaders tried to enter President Jacob Zuma's home.
We view the discharging of a fire arm at a public gathering as an unacceptable act of criminality and hooliganism that must be condemned in the strongest terms and we commend the police for having arrested the alleged culprit.
The ANC believes that the scores of people who stopped the DA delegation from invading Cde Zuma's home were Nkandla villagers who successfully prevented what would have been DA's major attention-seeking publicity stunt aimed at demonizing the ANC-led government and our president. We commend the villagers for having done it peacefully.
We are concerned that the DA went ahead with its plan to "inspect" President Zuma's home despite warnings from Nkandla residents, traditional leaders and the leaders of the ANC tripartite alliance. The DA was warned that the visit would cause unnecessary provocation.
The ANC wants to state categorically clear that it is a blatant lie that it is trying to make Nkandla a "no go area" for the DA. If that was the case, the DA wouldn't have launched two branches in Nkandla early this year.
Our leaders condemned the DA visit to Cde Zuma's home because it became clear to them that it was nothing but one of the DA's well-crafted attention-seeking publicity stunts.
Statement issued by Senzo Mkhize, ANC KwaZulu-Natal, November 5 2012
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