There was a ruckus outside the ANC’s headquarters in Cape Town this afternoon as Democratic Alliance supporters protested against alleged relations between President Jacob Zuma, Marius Fransman and gangsters on the Cape Flats. This follows reports last month that President Jacob Zuma met with known gang members to mobilise support for the ANC before the 2011 local government elections.

Premier Helen Zille as well as Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille was amongst the protestors and attempted to address the crowd; however the sound was deafened by ANC supporters who chanted and blew into their vuvuzelas in an attempt to hinder their speeches.

De Lille says that this protest was held to send a strong message to gangsters that are friends with the ANC and with (president) Zuma and Marius Fransman.

“Zuma and Marius Fransman should be in jail and not in Parliament and they cannot win the Western Cape at the ballot box so now they want to bring in gangsters to win the Western Cape,” DeLille continued.

De Lille goes further to mention the Mail and Guardian front page article that suggests that Zuma met with gangsters on the Cape Flats.

“Up until today, neither Zuma nor Fransman have denied that they have had meetings with the gangsters.”

Meanwhile the Western Cape Legislature debated a motion to impeach Premier Zille that was put forward by the ANC.

It emerged that the provincial government hired a private investigator several years ago to debug the mobile phones of those in the provincial government. The ANC however, claims the investigator, who has since been criminally charged, was hired to spy on opposition and DA members.

Michael Mpofu, spokesperson for the Premier, says that these charges and a motion to impeach the premier is frivolous and is an attempt by the ANC to deflect from questions raised by the article implying that President Jacob Zuma may somehow have relations with gangsters in the Western Cape.

“We need answers…why gangsters are involved with the ruling party, why are gangsters being linked to the president and why are gangsters being linked to the ANC provincial leadership,” Mpofu went further.

However, ANC Western Cape spokesperson Yonela Diko insisted the DA protest was meant to deflect from the real issues facing the Premier.

“Helen Zille is a liar. Who is she fooling that on first meeting with Scheepers, she just handed over her cellphone for debugging. Zille’s ease with the suspended Scheepers, speaks of the backhanded approach of this Provincial government to gangsters and crime. The ANC will be passing a vote of no confidence on Zille as a Premier today at the Provincial Legislature, for using state resources to finance her paranoia and put more money in the hands of gangs and questionable figures.” VOC (Umarah Hartley)