Staff Reporter
Parliament’s presiding officers on Wednesday condemned the disruptions at a book launch in Sandton on Tuesday evening, during which ANC Youth League members allegedly tore out pages from the book ‘Gangster State’ and threatened to burn copies.
The book, written by Pieter Louis Myburgh, alleges corruption by current ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule during his time in office as Premier of the Free State.
READ: ANC distances itself from disruption of ‘Gangster State’ book launch
In a statement released on Wednesday, Parliament’s Speaker Baleka Mbete and Chairperson Thandi Modise said: “A strong and clear message must be sent by the criminal justice system that activities like those perpetrated at the book launch yesterday have no place in our democracy, particularly as the nation marks the anniversary of 25 years of our democracy this year.”
They stressed the supremacy of the Constitution and all South Africans’ rights to freedom of expression, including the freedom to “receive and impart information or ideas”.
The statement added that those unhappy with the contents of the books had legislative avenues to take up their grievances instead of carrying out actions such as those on Tuesday evening at the launch of the book.
“The damage wreaked by the book launch disruption and the open threats to burn the book, is disturbing, even tragic, especially at this time when we are less than a month away from our sixth general election,” read the statement.
