Young South Africans Call For Jobs, End To Poverty
By DONNA BRYSON Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG - Young South Africans brought their frustration over poverty and joblessness to the streets Thursday, responding to a call by the tough-talking youth leader of the governing African National Congress who has clashed with older party leaders over economic policy.
``Shoot the boer!'' the peaceful crowd of thousands sang, a black liberation war-era chant that a South African court has ruled is racist and that the ANC ordered youth leader Julius Malema and his followers to stop singing. ``Boer,'' farmer in the language of Dutch-descended South Africans, is sometimes used for all whites.
Malema led the crowd in chants of ``Down with white monopoly capital!'' as it approached the Chamber of Mines headquarters.
A banner at the mining headquarters declared ``We agree with you that unemployment is too high, poverty is too high, inequality is too high.''
The Chamber of Mines' chief executive, who is black, accepted a list of demands from the protesters, including nationalization of 60 percent of the country's lucrative mines. Bheki Sibaya later told reporters his industry group wanted to work with Malema to find solutions, including helping pay to educate black South Africans, but rejected the demands of nationalization to address the national economic crisis.
``This country solves its problems through negotiations,'' Sibaya added, saying mining companies were reaching goals to increase black ownership that emerged from talks with the government.
The protesters' statement said they targeted the mines because of the industry's role in South Africa's history of racist economic development and warned that ``non concession to these demands will lead to social instability due to continued economic exclusion of the black majority.''
Associated Press text, photo and/or graphic material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Latest Stories
- TCA Health Responds to Needs of Residents and Employers with Second Informational and Hiring Event
- Ex-NBA Star Big Bill Cartwright to hold book signing
- The Link & Option Center and Concerned Political and Community Leaders Hosted a Press Conference Recently To Issue a Red Alert on the Maternal Health Crisis in South Suburban Cook County
- Chicago Chosen for 2026 International Jazz Day, Uniting World Sounds in the Birthplace of Blues
- The RoseRanch Grocery Store Narrows The Food Desert Gap On Far Southside
Latest Podcast
STARR Community Services International, Inc.
