POLOKO TAU
Pupils in Soweto have once again allegedly been ordered out of classrooms by Congress of SA Students leaders and taken to the Joburg CBD to join Julius Malema’s supporters.
About 200 pupils in uniform from various schools in Zola arrived at Beyers Naudé Square after 2pm yesterday, singing and chanting, on the second day of Malema’s disciplinary hearing.
Chanting “ Malema uyibozza! (Malema is the man)”, the youngsters ran around the streets close to Luthuli House, where the hearing for the embattled ANC Youth League president was under way.
The same group were later dispersed by metro police officers in President Street, where they attempted to swoop on hawkers and had forced their way into a KFC outlet on their way to Park station to catch trains back home.
Among the pupils yesterday were those from Aurora Girls High, Emndeni Junior Secondary and Fontanus Comprehensive Secondary School.
They said they had been warned not to talk to the media, but confirmed they had been taken out of classes by Cosas leaders at about 11am.
The organisation’s leaders declined to talk to The Star, saying they had been warned not to do so.
Meanwhile, the Cosas national leadership has distanced itself from the Luthuli House demonstrations.
“People mobilising (pupils) to abandon classes and go and support Malema are giving Cosas a bad name. Malema’s hearing has nothing to do with those children’s education,” said Cosas national chairman, Bongani Mani. “Is Malema a minister of education? I’d understand if he was in the education sector, and although he is a former leader of Cosas, (pupils) are not going to benefit from staying away from classes to support him.”
Mani accused the Gauteng Cosas leadership and its chairman, Ntsako Mogobe, of disrupting the pupils’ education.
“Ntsako’s committee was disbanded about a week ago and a task team will be set up this coming weekend to take over Gauteng.
“We can’t have an organisation run by hooligans who disrupt classes,” he said.
“The Cosas leadership in Gauteng has gone against the founding principles of the organisation, bringing it into disrepute as well as sowing divisions.”
Asked if Cosas supported Malema, Mani said: “We’re not taking sides because Malema’s hearing is an ANC process and we’re confident that the disciplinary committee will conclude this case fairly.”
Meanwhile, Mogobe has denied the provincial committee was disbanded, saying this “had to happen through organisational processes”.
He said pupils and Cosas branches were free to make their own political decisions.
“Malema is their former president, and if Cosas branches decide on their own to go and support Malema, then there is nothing wrong with it.”
Gauteng Department of Education spokesman Charles Phahlane said learning across Gauteng had not been disrupted when they checked at about 11am yesterday, but reports of disruptions would be investigated.