Zuma lashes out at destruction of infrastructure during protests

[caption id="attachment_144549" align="aligncenter" width="500"] President Jacob Zuma. Picture: SIPHIWE SIBEKO[/caption]

President Jacob Zuma on Sunday lashed out at the destruction of infrastructure during protests‚ saying there could never be any justification for violence and hooliganism.

Addressing a national prayer day event in Durban‚ Zuma said it caused all freedom loving South Africans a lot of pain and disappointment to see important infrastructure being destroyed.

“People have a right to express themselves‚ which is guaranteed in the Constitution. Nobody in our country should tolerate or condone the use of violence. Our people should speak out and condemn violence‚” he told the gathering at the Kings Park stadium.

“Nobody must turn our youth into instruments of destruction‚ and use them to destroy property including facilities that are aimed at building their future‚ to further their political ends.

“We ushered in a peaceful society in 1994. We left violence‚ hatred and intolerance behind in 1994‚” Zuma said.

“We must not tolerate any party or individuals who seek to take us back to the apartheid period of violence‚ anarchy and pain. South Africa is a land of peace. South Africa is a land of tolerance‚” he added.

He urged South Africans to unite and ensure that nobody disturbed the peace that they had worked so hard to achieve.

“Let us isolate all who promote violence. Let us also isolate and expose those who condone and turn a blind eye to the actions of those who promote violence.

“There can never be any justification for violence and hooliganism‚” Zuma stated.

He said the government had built 795 schools since 2009‚ at a cost of R23 billion.

“We have built 78 new libraries in addition to 304 that have been upgraded. Government is also building three new universities and twelve technical education colleges to expand access to learning‚” he added