A group of 17 ANC members have embarked on a walk that they term “the long walk” to Mangaung for the party’s 53rd National Conference. They started their walk from Katlehong in the East of Johannesburg, covering a distance of just over 390 kilometres.
The group left their region on Sunday, December 16, the day that the conference started. Leader of the pack, Simphiwe Sibuthu, says they left on Sunday so that they send a message to the youth of South Africa that the 16th is larger than celebrating by consuming alcohol.
He says, “The reason why 16 December, is to remind our young people that 16 December is not just a day for us to drink, but it is a day whereby we understand the real history of this country.”
Initially, the group started of with 27 members, however, the walk proved to much for some and only 17 members managed to make it to Manguang just after 8pm this evening. The highly exhausted group arrived to the jubilation that surrounded the judicial capital of the nation following Jacob Zuma’s re-election as President of the ANC.
– By Luvuyo Mdeni
