Fury over Zuma's National Youth Day late show
Thousands of South Africans walked out on a scheduled Jacob Zuma keynote speech yesterday as the President arrived three hours late.
Zuma was due to speak in Soweto just after lunchtime on National Youth Day celebrations, but over 30,000 young people left the Orlando stadium before he could address the crowd, fed up of waiting.
The President had been at the opening of the ANC Youth League elective conference at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.
READ MORE FROM THE WDM CONTENT NETWORK:
To read the latest edition of African Business Review, click here.
- George Weah: Sports, business and African politics
- South African property: Rent or buy?
- Jacob Zuma signs up to join the Twitter army
An apologetic Zuma addressed an almost empty stadium when he arrived at 5pm, stating: “I’m sorry for being late. I had to start at the opening of the youth league conference. As you know, conferences don't move as quickly as you wish.
"We are here to greet you. We are happy that Youth Day was celebrated very well. We are here to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us to be free. We are here to celebrate those who said: 'Enough is enough' and stood against apartheid."
The 40,000-seater stadium’s doors had to be closed at lunchtime as spectators included thousands of school children joining in the celebrations.
