Mbeki: Some intent on destroying SA democracy
Former president Thabo Mbeki has warned against the ongoing violence at the country's universities, saying it is counterproductive for students to destroy instruments of democracy.
The 2023 academic year has been marked by numerous student protests against the new direct payment system introduced by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
During the latest incident, the William O’Brien examination venue at UKZN’s Pietermaritzburg campus was burned down by protesting students on Tuesday morning.
On Thursday, Mbeki spoke at a Unisa event hosted by the Thabo Mbeki School of Public and International Relations.
Mbeki also used the example of attempts to destroy the South African Revenue Service, which would have robbed 85% of the state's revenues.
"You can't pay civil servants, you can't pay soldiers, you can't supply clinics, the state collapses.
"Is it called state capture or what? I don't know. What I know is counterrevolutionary, and that is what is critically important is that we need to defeat this counter-revolution who's purpose has been to defeat the democratic revolution."
Mbeki warned of groups intent on destroying the country’s hard-won democratic gains.
"It is counter-revolution to defeat the democratic revolution, and that is a practical reality that we are living with, and that becomes a practical task for all of us as patriots to say we can't allow this democratic thing which some many people died for, we can't allow it to perish because of these negatives that are brought by the counter-revolution.
"We have got a combined task to make sure that we defeat that counter-revolution."
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