Kebby Maphatsoe said the protests were part of a country-wide programme aimed at raising awareness over failed promises made by the African National Congress to ex-combatants.
uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association president Kebby Maphatsoe. Picture: Abigail Javier/EWN
JOHANNESBURG – Umkhonto we Sizwe president Kebby Maphatsoe has defended demonstrating Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) members who disrupted traffic on the N12 on Monday morning.
Maphatsoe said the protests were part of a country-wide programme aimed at raising awareness over failed promises made by the African National Congress (ANC) to ex-combatants.
Last week, MKMVA members marched to the ANC KwaZulu-Natal offices demanding that 2017 conference resolutions be implemented.
Maphatsoe said the association’s members had not been getting any joy regarding queries pertaining to the welfare of MK veterans.
“It’s just to raise our plight that we have been talking to our organisation and our deployees in government for a long time and nothing is coming out of those negotiations. So, it’s just to march to the offices of the ANC and hand over memorandums of our grievances to the leadership of the ANC.”
SUMMONED BY ANC NEC
The ANC’s top officials have summoned Maphatsoe to explain voice notes calling the association’s members to action.
Some of the notes, which made their way to social media, called on former MK combatants to attend a night vigil and then bring KwaZulu-Natal to a standstill.
Maphatsoe, speaking to Eyewitness News following that meeting, insisted he was not attempting to call for a rebellion against the ANC government.
Maphatsoe was hauled before four of the ANC’s top six to explain the voice notes, which have been circulating among members and calling them to action.
Following the rallying call, MKMVA members went on the rampage, attempting to shut down KwaZulu-Natal, with a similar attempt in Ekurhuleni.
This also comes a month after the MKMVA called for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s NEC to be disbanded.
Maphatsoe told Eyewitness News this was not a call to go against the ANC, but instead to raise awareness over a series of concerns.
“Let’s make sure that the ANC listens to us.”
He said there were numerous issues such as housing and the welfare of veterans that needed urgent attention.
