The open toilets saga in Makhaza in Khayelitsha led to a clash between Premier Helen Zille and the ANC Youth League yesterday, with a league member calling her a racist and Zille walking out of a meeting with Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka.
Shiceka visited Makhaza for a first-hand account of the toilet situation and, after he, Zille and community leaders addressed residents during a tense meeting on a field in the area, Shiceka suggested the different roleplayers meet elsewhere to try to find solutions.
But minutes after the closed meeting began in a nearby hall, Zille and Cape Town mayor Dan Plato stormed out.
"I'm happy to talk to the minister, the councillor and genuine representatives who have an electoral mandate. The ANCYL has not.
"It has intimidated people in the community and torn down their structures even though the community has pleaded with them not to.
"The ANCYL today threatened twice to make the city ungovernable and to continue their campaign of intimidation and violence.
"We don't recognise their right to represent everybody. While they have a presence inside there (meeting) and while they outnumber everybody else and continue with their threats, we will not continue with this discussion," Zille said, as she and Plato left the Solomon Mahlangu Community Hall.
At a media briefing inside, Shiceka said the open toilets in Makhaza had shocked him and that Zille, Plato and the community disputed the facts.
He would meet the Human Rights Commission, the provincial government, the city council and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to try to resolve the matter.
"My observation is that this matter is very serious. In our view, the issue of open toilets does not happen anywhere in the country except in the Western Cape," Shiceka said.
Earlier, when Zille arrived in Makhaza and greeted residents, she was confronted by youth league member Loyiso Nkohla, who told residents not to talk to her.
"You can't come as you please. You are supposed to come with the minister (Shiceka). We don't want you here with this white tendency of yours to divide our people," Nkohla said.
Shortly after she called Shiceka from her cellphone, Zille told Nkohla: "Now everyone can see how you operate. In a democracy, any citizen is free to go where they like. I was here yesterday, I'm here today and I'll be here tomorrow.
"The truth is that people here are friendly - unlike the ANCYL, who tell them what to do. You must stop intimidating people."
Nkohla responded by calling Zille a racist.
"We are not afraid of you and your police. You are racist, Helen Zille, the white premier. You are divisive and arrogant. You are emotionally bankrupt."
When Shiceka arrived to address residents, Zille told him of the verbal exchange with Nkohla.
"It is a very bad situation. He is a complete racist and he is very dangerous. The ANCYL is destroying the image of the ANC.
"He has been a total disgrace and I'm going to sue him for defamation," Zille told Shiceka.
Youth League member and Ward 95 Development Forum chairman Andile Lili challenged residents to step forward if they felt the youth league intimidated them.
"She (Zille) is looking for political gain, not for improvement of the toilets. This won't happen in white or coloured areas. If she can't attend to us, we will respect the World Cup, but after that we'll make the city ungovernable," Lili said.
Shiceka visited Makhaza for a first-hand account of the toilet situation and, after he, Zille and community leaders addressed residents during a tense meeting on a field in the area, Shiceka suggested the different roleplayers meet elsewhere to try to find solutions.
But minutes after the closed meeting began in a nearby hall, Zille and Cape Town mayor Dan Plato stormed out.
"I'm happy to talk to the minister, the councillor and genuine representatives who have an electoral mandate. The ANCYL has not.
"It has intimidated people in the community and torn down their structures even though the community has pleaded with them not to.
"The ANCYL today threatened twice to make the city ungovernable and to continue their campaign of intimidation and violence.
"We don't recognise their right to represent everybody. While they have a presence inside there (meeting) and while they outnumber everybody else and continue with their threats, we will not continue with this discussion," Zille said, as she and Plato left the Solomon Mahlangu Community Hall.
At a media briefing inside, Shiceka said the open toilets in Makhaza had shocked him and that Zille, Plato and the community disputed the facts.
He would meet the Human Rights Commission, the provincial government, the city council and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to try to resolve the matter.
"My observation is that this matter is very serious. In our view, the issue of open toilets does not happen anywhere in the country except in the Western Cape," Shiceka said.
Earlier, when Zille arrived in Makhaza and greeted residents, she was confronted by youth league member Loyiso Nkohla, who told residents not to talk to her.
"You can't come as you please. You are supposed to come with the minister (Shiceka). We don't want you here with this white tendency of yours to divide our people," Nkohla said.
Shortly after she called Shiceka from her cellphone, Zille told Nkohla: "Now everyone can see how you operate. In a democracy, any citizen is free to go where they like. I was here yesterday, I'm here today and I'll be here tomorrow.
"The truth is that people here are friendly - unlike the ANCYL, who tell them what to do. You must stop intimidating people."
Nkohla responded by calling Zille a racist.
"We are not afraid of you and your police. You are racist, Helen Zille, the white premier. You are divisive and arrogant. You are emotionally bankrupt."
When Shiceka arrived to address residents, Zille told him of the verbal exchange with Nkohla.
"It is a very bad situation. He is a complete racist and he is very dangerous. The ANCYL is destroying the image of the ANC.
"He has been a total disgrace and I'm going to sue him for defamation," Zille told Shiceka.
Youth League member and Ward 95 Development Forum chairman Andile Lili challenged residents to step forward if they felt the youth league intimidated them.
"She (Zille) is looking for political gain, not for improvement of the toilets. This won't happen in white or coloured areas. If she can't attend to us, we will respect the World Cup, but after that we'll make the city ungovernable," Lili said.
- Cape Times
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