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Zizi Kodwa

JOHANNESBURG. — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress says that the United States is pursuing a regime change agenda in South Africa via youth training.

“We have observed attempts by imperialist to destabilise not just South Africa, but the sub region. They have taken about 45 young people to America to train them as part of their leadership programme.

“What we got from those young people is not what they expected; they were trained about destabilising the country and regime change,” ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

He said that at a certain point, the party would let the students, who were trained in the US, speak to the media.

“Many of them, when they came back, were distributed in the higher institutions of learning. They came to us and said: ‘we suspect what we attended in America is not what we want’,” said Kodwa.

Kodwa said the US wanted to replace the ANC “with whatever thing that is not ANC because the party remains an opposition to the imperialist agenda”.

While addressing an anti-racism march in the capital Pretoria last month, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe accused the US embassy in South Africa of holding meetings aimed at “regime change” in the country.

The US Ambassador to South Africa, Patrick Gaspard, later responded on Twitter dismissing the ANC claims.

“I wish that someone would invite me to these meetings. Let’s not blame others for our own challenges,” Gaspard tweeted. — Xinhua.