Hon Speaker, Marikana was a timely wake-up call for the country. There will always be these outbursts of discontent if political power is not complemented with economic power. Who owns the means of production in this country? Who manages the wealth of Azania and in whose interest? Surely, the indigenous Africans are spectators in the game of the economy in general, and mining in particular.
Those with political connections are flaunting their wealth with obscenity as they bid for buffaloes and build palaces amid grinding poverty. This political connectedness has even poisoned the labour movement as some unions think they are more equal than others - the curse of a republic gone bananas.
The PAC believes now is the time to redistribute the wealth, mines included, in favour of the African majority, especially the African youth.
Kumaqabane am aphetheyo e-ANC, yekani ukukhala nokukhalaza. Nathi mhla nigaya iivoti nathi nifuna ukuphatha eli lizwe. Niliphethe njani xa nikhalaza kunye namaqela aphikisayo? Nikhala ngamaGosa aziNtloko zesiGqeba nemivuzo yawo, nikhala ngokuthi abantu bayahlupheka, kanti la mandla ezopolitiko nenza ntoni ngawo? Nenza imfeketho ngala mandla ezopolitiko? Nifana namacephe aphethe ukutya kanti aphethwe ngokuba amandla ezopolitiko asingomandla okuhombisa njengokuba nihombisa ngawo. Enkosi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[To my fellow comrades from the governing party, the ANC, I say, stop moaning. When you campaigned for votes, you said you wanted to rule this country. How can you be in power and yet complain in the same vein as the opposition parties? You complain about the salaries of chief executive officers and the fact that people live in poverty: What are you doing with the political power you have been given? You are misusing it. You are like puppets on strings because the political power you wield is for window- dressing. Thank you.]