http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/oct/04/letters?newsfeed=true

I was surprised to read Justice Malala’s claim that Julius Malema is feted as a saviour by South Africa’s shack dwellers (Could Julius Malema be South Africa’s president in waiting? 23 September). I recently met S’bu Zikode, the president of the shack dwellers movement of South Africa, and he made it clear that the tens of thousands of shack dwellers he has been elected to speak for are not taken in by Malema’s pro-poor posturing and abhor his advocacy of violence.

Ayanda Kota, chairperson of the Unemployed People’s Movement in Grahamstown and another genuine representative of the poor whom Malema claims to speak for, puts it this way: “You cannot become a multimillionaire in a struggle for the oppressed. But you can become a multimillionaire in an attempt to capture the struggle of the oppressed and use it to advance the interests of a predatory elite.” Kota believes that Malema’s version of nationalisation would be nothing but a massive public subsidy for the rich.

It seems clear that the only hope for the victims of the economic apartheid that now prevails in South Africa lies with democratic and inclusive movements of the poor such as Abahlali baseMjondolo, and not with an degenerate ANC leadership that is fighting over who can steal the most from the public purse.

Christine Dann

Port Levy, New Zealand